The First Months under the Youth Criminal Justice Act: A Survey and Analysis of Case Law

Abstract

The Youth Criminal Justice Act was enacted to reduce the use of court and incarceration for young offenders who commit less serious crimes, while making it easier to imposes adult sanctions on those youths who commit the most serious violent offences. Preliminary reports indicate that the act has resulted in significant increases in community-based responses to youth crime. Most judges seem to recognize that the YCJA makes proportionate accountability the dominant sentencing principle, although they also recognize the YCJA's limitations on the use of custody and rehabilitative principles. Further, a Quebec Court of Appeal judgement ruled unconstitutional some of the "get tough" provisions of the act that were intended to facilitate the imposition of adult sanctions for the most serious violent young offenders; but that decision also indicated that youth courts should "balance" accountability concerns with a consideration of the needs of young offenders.