The contends about the relationship between age and penal imputableness involve several areas of study. Taking as primary sources the Código de Menores and the Anais das Semanas de Estudos dos Problemas de Menores (1948-1951), this article focuses some of these discussions, mainly: the relationships between the itens of the legislation and their infliction in the cases of infractors with minor ages; how the absence of minimal and satisfactory structural conditions to the application of the penalties contributes to the diffusion of beliefs in the total impunity of minors; the debate over the plea for the reduction of the age limits to the applicability of the law.
Minor; Children; Legislation
