Age of Majority Act 1971

The Age of Majority Act 1971 (Malay: Akta Umur Dewasa 1971), is a Malaysian law which was enacted to amend and consolidate the laws relating to the age of majority.

Age of Majority Act 1971
Parliament of Malaysia
Long title An Act to amend and consolidate the law relating to the age of majority.
Citation	Act 21
Territorial extent	Throughout Malaysia
Passed by	Dewan Rakyat
Passed	17 March 1971
Passed by	Dewan Negara
Passed	26 March 1971
Royal assent	22 April 1971
Commenced	29 April 1971
Effective	30 April 1971
Legislative history
First chamber: Dewan Rakyat
Bill title	Age of Majority Bill 1971
Introduced by	Abdul Kadir Yusuf, Attorney General
First reading	9 March 1971
Second reading	17 March 1971
Third reading	17 March 1971
Second chamber: Dewan Negara
Bill title	Age of Majority Bill 1971
Member(s) in charge	Abdul Kadir Yusuf, Attorney General
First reading	22 March 1971
Second reading	26 March 1971
Third reading	26 March 1971
Related legislation
Age of Majority Act 1961 [Act 9 of 1961] Subsection 2(1) of the Interpretation Ordinance of Sabah [Cap. 63] Subsection 3(1) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Enactment 1963 of Sabah [En. 34 of 1963] Subsection 3(1) of the Interpretation Ordinance of Sarawak [Cap. 1]
Keywords
Age of majority
Status: In force

According to the Act, the age of majority is 18 years old, so that below than 18 years old is considered as minor. The age of majority should not be confused with other types of ages (e.g. voting age, marriageable age, age of consent, legal working age, school leaving age, legal driving age, smoking age, legal drinking age, age of criminal responsibility, age of candidacy for political offices, etc.) because different ages are set for these types of ages.

Nothing in this Act shall affect:

(a) the capacity of any person to act in the following matters, namely, marriage, divorce, dower and adoption;

(b) the religion and religious rites and usages of any class of persons within Malaysia;

(c) any provision in any other written law contained fixing the age of majority for the purposes of that written law.

Structure

The Age of Majority Act 1971, in its current form (1 January 2006), consists of only 5 sections and 1 schedule (including no amendment), without separate Parts.

• Section 1: Short title
• Section 2: Age of majority
• Section 3: Interpretation
• Section 4: Savings
• Section 5: Repeal
• Schedule

External links

• Age of Majority Act 1971 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.