LAWS 3307 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Juvenile Court, Criminal Law Of Canada, Young Offenders Act
25 May 2018
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January 11, 2018
The consequences for an adult are very different from young people. youth justice act is a
piece of legislation that governs how young people are dealt with in our criminal justice system.
Starts from when one is arrested until the end. From arrest to sentencing. The legislation came
into effect in April 2003. Prior to the YCJA the act was YOA which came into place in 1984,
20years before. Came about as a result of consultation as a result from judge’s lawyers and a
bunch of people. An understanding that young people should also be treated differently in the
eyes of the law. The development of a young adult is not complete. Ages range from 12-17.
Young people tend to be more impulsive and make decisions without thinking them through.
When a young person is arrested they get a phone call to a lawyer as any adult would, the
difference is that they contact their parent. The law requires that their parents are notified, it also
requires their parent to be in the interview with the police.it is better to Keep the parents out of
the room during the interview because they would bring a different perspective, by telling their
child to tell everything to the police which is why counsel is the better option to sit in the
interview.
Jan 18,2018
Now young offenders are referred to as young persons. Historically, although today we talk
about young from 11-17 inclusive, that number has changed over the course of the years.
Stage 1: From 0-12: the approach, young people could not be criminally liable because they
didn’t have the mental capacity to commit crimes. If they were caught they were deemed not
criminally liable
Stage 2: from 12-17. viewer perspective is that young people had limited accountability.
Stage 3: 18- above: full criminal liability from a criminal perspective.
The focus on young people was on the mens rea. Because of the lack of development, it
dismissed their perspective from a legal perspective
Dolei in capix: incapacity to do wrong-. perspective taken towards young people
in any court, the crown has the burden to prove the beyond a reasonable doubt
for the young person, it goes a little further, it made it more difficult for them to establish
section 16: not criminally responsible. whether or not the accused at time of offence has the
ability to. with section 16 an adult could say that and come up with the not criminally responsible
defense. Equating. how young persons were viewed in terms of their ability to commit act.
Deterrence does not apply under the legislation on young persons. It is not applicable because it
does not work. Criminal records get erased when they turn 18 if they stay good, if one commits
one more bad crime, within a specific time frame all the stuff from before 18 stays on their
record.
Charges are allegations: lawyers can’t talk about charges alone but rather convictions.
History of youth criminal law
In Canada, the different ages of criminality have change. In 1857: Canada enacted legislation to
separate child from adult offender or from adults consequently. They would end up in training or
reformatories to alter their behavior. Canada saw its first juvenile delinquent act which came
into force in 1908. The real focus of that legislation was to see how we could protect young
people so they appreciate how young people could get into. focus wasn’t how to save them or
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how to get better behavior. Because if they were being delinquent because they were misguided
and lacked structure. The focus was sending these young people to training schools. Until
officers had come to a conclusion to release them from their training obligations. A little bit
more focus on the young person and identifying their needs.
How you could be a proper youth and how you should be conducting yourself. respective of
values. It was more of teaching values
Depended on province one was in. JDA had more of an opened ended approach, it was under
critics and attack in the 1960s because the view was that their rights were being violated, they
weren’t being treated fairly.
One of the limitations of the JDA was who determines what was in the best interest of the child.
The best interest of the child was left for discussion, like how you know if what your doing is the
best interest, no guidelines to follow, . if one fell between 7-14 then they would go under JDA. in
one province, you would be treated differently. There was lack of consistency and the
implementation of it was problematic. Rehabilitation was not really working because there was
no proper structure in place.
The YOA provided a little bit more structure when it came to young people and how they would
be treated. The charter of rights and freedoms came into effect in 1982.
The YOA talked about the notion of disclosure. Whenever one is arrested information is
gathered, all these are put into a disclosure and given to the defense and crime, so that the
accused knows what they are being charged for.
Things slowed down significantly in 1982 when the YOA came into effect. More things for
police officers to account for compared to before. Checks and balances.
The YOA was criticized because the focus was to put people in jail, if one was convicted one
was put into jail or probation. A legislation that focused on punishment.
In 2003. introduction of the YCJA, legislation still in effect today came into effect when the
liberals were in power.
The approach. The focus became to rehabilitate young people, involving the fact that young
people’s mind swore not developed and jail is not effective. 1996, task force developed to look at
the YOA and ask the question of if the legislation was achieving what they wanted it too. Talk
about if at 15 or 16 if one committed a serious violent offence maybe they should be treated as
an adult.
When it comes to young adults, probation is the big bulk that a person could get. When one
commits serious crime that’s when views and approaches change.
How YCJA came about
1. In March of 1999, bill C-68. Youth criminal justice act
2. In 2000 liberal government won elections. YCJA introduced again under a different bill C-7
different version
3. Los of consultations that continue. Federal government gives thumbs up to YCJA
4. In the fall of 2001, Quebec wasn’t on board with it
5. 2002, fb: senate amends criminal justice act
6. bill c-7 gets royal accent
7. comes into effect on April 1 2003
The YCJA is a combination of the prior pieces of legislation. One could argue that this
legislation is just not reacting to young people committing crime. Laws based on the notion that
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young people are at a different stage and approach in their life. Which means different values
and treatment. The focus would include what do young people need in order in order to live a
prosocial non-criminal life.
Youth jails and detention centers separate from the adults. There is a separate physical court
room, multi-faceted but designated as a youth court.
No mixing of young people and adults. Physically separated even when they are charged.
The preamble and the declaration of principles in YCJA are intended to give judges, prosecutors
police in the CJS that deal with young people and give them the guideline on how to deal with
young people.
There was a smoother transition from the YOA to the YCJA because of the years and years of
consultation
The YCJA continues to support the approach that young people should have less accountability.
Not get a complete pass but says they have to be treated differently. Keep the young people out
of jail
No matter what the young person is not going to jail, they can only get into custody under
specific circumstances which is different from an adult.
This legislation takes a different approach, we become too compliance and forgiving and liberal
with young people. If an adult has a gun they going to jail, if a teen has one they get probation.
Although the difference could be a couple of months.
The legislation introduces
1. extrajudicial measures (police officer gets on scene, dealing with young person, they have
the ability to not charge that person they can give them a warning, may be criminal but
the officer get the ability to give them a pass. That is put into the system. So, they can
have a record of it. No charges laid
2. Diversion/Extrajudicial sanctions: young person actually gets arrested. they come to
court, the crown attorney who has full discretion reads the file. If you sign and
acknowledge what you did was wrong and take steps to do community service order, they
will stay the charges against the offender- this charge goes away and the young person
does not have a criminal record. no guilty finding but one acknowledged. The charge is
withdrawn is gone. stay is it is in the system. it lays dormant for a period of 12 months.
Within those 12 months the crown can bring back those charges if you do something
crazy. The young person could get probation if the charges are revived.
In 2012, amendments were made into the YCJA, if there is some way we could keep the young
persons out of the system.
Accountability is another approach taken with the YCJA, focus not on punishing the young
person but making them accountable; ex: volunteer work. Legislation or court should address the
issues. Why is it that this young person is fighting all the time? What’s the driving force behind
the conduct address that? The judge has the power to appoint a lawyer for the young person. The
reason they do that is incase parents do not have the money to pay. they can appoint anyone, and
they have to accept it. The YCJA has the right to issue a notice to the parent to come to court.
READINGS CHAPTER 1
When children are born they have no distinct physical, moral, or social capacities. New borns
have legal rights, they can inherit things and entitled to protection by the law. Legal rights can
only be exercised by a legal guardian. During adolescence self-awareness and autonomy
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Document Summary
The consequences for an adult are very different from young people. youth justice act is a piece of legislation that governs how young people are dealt with in our criminal justice system. Starts from when one is arrested until the end. The legislation came into effect in april 2003. Prior to the ycja the act was yoa which came into place in 1984, Came about as a result of consultation as a result from judge"s lawyers and a bunch of people. An understanding that young people should also be treated differently in the eyes of the law. The development of a young adult is not complete. Young people tend to be more impulsive and make decisions without thinking them through. When a young person is arrested they get a phone call to a lawyer as any adult would, the difference is that they contact their parent. Now young offenders are referred to as young persons.
