f puberty.

TITLE XXI. OF THE AUTHORITY OF GUARDIANS

In some cases a pupil cannot lawfully act without the authority of
his guardian, in others he can. Such authority, for instance, is not
necessary when a pupil stipulates for the delivery of property, though
it is otherwise where he is the promisor; for it is an established rule
that the guardian's authority is not necessary for any act by which the
pupil simply improves his own position, though it cannot be dispensed
with where he proposes to make it worse. Consequently, unless the
guardian authorizes all transactions generating bilateral obligations,
such as sale, hire, agency, and deposit, the pupil is not bound,
though he can compel the other contracting party to discharge his own
obligation.

1 Pupils, however, require their guardian's authority before they can
enter on an inheritance, demand the possession of goods, or accept an
inheritance by way of trust, even though such act be advantageous to
them, and involves no chance of loss.

2 If the guardian thinks the transaction will be beneficial to his
pupil, his authority should be given presently and on the spot.
Subsequent ratification, or authority given by letter, has no effect.

3 In case of a suit between guardian and pupil, as the former cannot
lawfully authorize an act in which he is personally concerned or
interested, a curator is now appointed, in lieu of the old praetorian
guardian, with whose cooperation the suit is carried on, his office
determining as soon as it is decided.

TITLE XXII. OF THE MODES IN WHICH GUARDIANSHIP IS TERMINATED

Pupils of either sex are freed from guardianship when they reach the age
of puberty, which the ancients were inclined to determine, in the
case of males, not only by age, but also by reference to the physical
development of individuals. Our majesty, however, has deemed it not
unworthy of the purity of our times to apply in the case of males also
the moral considerations which, even among the ancients, forbade in the
case of females as indecent the inspection of the person. Consequently
by the promulgation of our sacred constitution we have enacted that
puberty in males shall be considered to commence immediately on
the completion of the fourteenth year, leaving unaltered the rule
judiciously laid down by the ancients as to females, according to which
they are held fit for marriage after completing their twelfth year.

1 Again, tutelage is terminat