INDEPTH: CRIME
Youth Criminal Justice Act: Changing the law on young criminals
CBC News Online | June 23, 2006
Prior to the Juvenile Delinquents Act in 1908, young offenders were treated much like adults – they were held with adults while awaiting trial and received the same sentences as adults. Under the act a youth was treated "not as a criminal, but as a misdirected and misguided child."
Youths were not charged with specific offences, but with delinquency. Sentencing was left to the discretion of the judge and was based on the rehabilitation of the offender. Over time, the broad guidelines produced a wide disparity of sentences and the law was criticized for failing to recognize the rights of the child.
The Young Offenders Act in 1984 was an attempt to establish a tighter legal framework by allowing charges on specific offences, and by placing responsibility for the offence on the offender. It was criticized on many counts: for being too soft on the offender; for lacking a clear philosophy on youth justice in Canada; for inconsistent and unfair sentences; for not properly addressing serious and violent offences; for an overuse of the court system; and for not giving enough recognition to the victims.
On April 1, 2003, the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) officially replaced the Young Offenders Act. It aims to emphasize the rehabilitation and re-entry of a young offender into society. The new act addresses the criticism that Canada's youth justice system lacked a clear philosophy, laying out a Declaration of Principles:
"The youth criminal justice system is to prevent crime by addressing the circumstances underlying a young person's offending behaviour, rehabilitate young persons who commit offences and reintegrate them back into society, and ensure that a young person is subject to meaningful consequences for his or her offences, in order to promote the long-term protection of the public."
Highlights of the act include:
- An end to transfers to adult court. If the offender is found guilty in a youth court, the judge has the authority to impose an adult sentence.
- Lowering the age of presumption to 14. Under the YOA, it was presumed youths aged 16 and over convicted of a serious offence such as murder were transferred to adult court. The new act lowers the age to 14, but individual provinces can adjust the age to 15 or 16.
- Less emphasis on custody as a sentence for non-violent or less serious offences. Custody is to be reserved for violent and repeat offenders.
- Emphasis on alternative youth sentencing methods (out of court), such as referrals to community programs, formal letters of warning to parents, meetings with police.
- Access by victims to youth court records, and notification of victims if the offender is sentenced out of court.
- Imposition of a new mandatory period of intensive supervision on all young offenders following their release from jail.
Critics of the YCJA felt it was too lenient and when the Conservative Harper government came into power in January 2006, it lobbied for harsher sentences, arguing that they would be a deterrent to would-be youth criminals and cut down on repeat offenders.
In June 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled "since no basis can be found in the Youth Criminal Justice Act for imposing a harsher sanction than would otherwise be called for to deter others from committing crimes, general deterrence is not a principle of youth sentence under the new regime."
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