Youth Justice Strategy

The Young Offenders Act came into force in 1984. Serious questions have been raised since that time about whether the YOA remains the best model for juvenile justice in Canada.

For example, not enough is being done to prevent youth crime before it occurs. Canada over-uses custody as a response to youth crime, and often fails to use other responses that can be more effective and meaningful in showing youth the impact of their crime on the victim and the community, and instilling core values such as respect for others, responsibility and accountability. The effectiveness of current approaches to a small but rising number of violent repeat offenders has also been the subject of growing concern.

At the request of the Minister of Justice in 1996, the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs conducted a broad review of Canada's youth justice system. The report made a number of recommendations on how the youth justice system might be improved to better protect the public.

The Government is responding to that report today by announcing a new youth justice strategy. The strategy recognizes that public protection must be the principal objective of youth justice renewal. It proposes directions for new legislation and programs that address the public's concern about violent and repeat young offenders, but also take a much broader, integrated approach that includes prevention, alternatives to the courts and rehabilitation. All of these elements are essential to a youth justice strategy that effectively protects the public.

The youth justice strategy focuses on three complementary areas for action: prevention to address the root causes of crime, support youth and encourage community efforts to reduce crime; meaningful consequences that help young offenders understand the impact of their actions and allow them to make good the harm done to the victim and the community; and measures for violent and repeat young offenders that are more firm, provide more control, and ensure more effective treatment and support for rehabilitation.

The government's youth justice strategy includes the following key elements:

PREVENTION

Prevention is our first line of defence, and the federal government believes it is never too early to identify and provide support to children at risk. This approach helps improve public safety, reduce victimization, and protect youth themselves from lives of crime. Development of the government's youth justice strategy will be closely tied to other government initiatives aimed at children and youth. These include:

1. The Crime Prevention Initiative is aimed at developing community-based responses to crime, with a particular emphasis on children and youth. The government has committed $32 million annually to, in part, assist communities throughout Canada to develop programs and partnerships that will help them prevent crime in the first place and support youth at risk.
   
2. The National Children's Agenda is a collaborative initiative by the federal, provincial and territorial governments to improve the well-being of Canada's children, particularly children at risk. Through the agenda, governments hope to address many of the conditions associated with delinquency, including poverty, early childhood development issues, parenting skills, youth employment and family support.
   
3. In its response to the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, the government builds on its commitment to address social change for Aboriginal people by focusing on improved health and safety, investing in people and strengthening economic development. Aboriginal people, including youth, are over-represented in the justice system and any attempt to address youth crime must include measures focused on strengthening Aboriginal communities. The federal government is working in partnership with Aboriginal communities to support individual, family and community well-being. This will include efforts to strengthen youth justice components of the government's Aboriginal Justice Strategy.

NEW YOUTH JUSTICE LEGISLATION

To send a clear signal to all Canadians that a new legal framework is in place, the Young Offenders Act will be replaced with a new youth criminal justice act that puts public protection first.

Key elements of the new legislation include:

1. Statement of Principles and Objectives

People working in the youth justice system have found that the principles set out in the current law are not clear and sometimes even appear to compete with one another.

Proposals: The new legislation will include a statement of principles and objectives stating that protecting society is the main goal of criminal law, including youth justice law. The statement will also make clear that prevention, meaningful consequences for crime and rehabilitation are all essential and complementary components of a youth justice system that effectively protects the public.

The statement will underscore that youth must be held accountable for their actions. It will also include the principle that youth should be treated differently from adults and that violent young offenders should be treated differently from non-violent young offenders. The statement will also make clear that victims should be heard and treated with courtesy and respect, and that they should experience the minimum degree of inconvenience as a result of their involvement in the youth justice system.

Principles will also be developed to help the courts impose sentences on youth that are meaningful and reflect both the seriousness of the offence and the circumstances of the young offender.

2. Violent and Repeat Young Offenders

Canadians must be protected from violent crime and must be assured that the youth justice system can deal effectively with the small group of violent young offenders. This means custody and control, but it also means more support for treatment and rehabilitation for the time when these offenders return to their communities.

Victims and families must also have confidence that serious, violent offences can be dealt with in a timely way. The current process for transferring young offenders to adult court is very complex, can mean lengthy delays between the time a young offender is charged and the time he or she comes to trial, and requires that the transfer decision be made before all the facts of the offence have been revealed and proven at the trial. The proposals will result in more efficient trials that place less of a burden on victims, witnesses, families and accused, and ensure that offenders see a close connection between the crime and its consequences.

Proposals: The government is proposing several measures to address the problem of violent and repeat young offenders:

• Adult sentences: At present, 16- and 17-year-olds who commit murder, attempted murder, manslaughter or aggravated sexual assault are subject to adult sentences unless they can convince a judge that public protection and rehabilitation can be achieved by youth court sentences. The proposals will expand this group of offenders to include repeat young offenders who have a pattern of convictions for serious violent offences. In addition, the age limit will be lowered to include 14- and 15-year-olds.

• Special Sentencing Option: A special sentence will be available for the most violent, high risk young offenders. This small group of offenders may require a combination of long periods of supervised control and intensive rehabilitation programs to deal with the risk they pose to society. A judge will have the power to impose such a sentence on a young offender found guilty of the most serious violent offences. The government will consult with the provinces, legal experts and correctional professionals to determine how the regime should be structured. The government recognizes that the regime will have cost implications for the provinces and is committed to consulting with them on resourcing issues.

• Transfer Process. Unlike the current system, which requires that a transfer hearing take place before the trial, the decision to apply adult sentences to a young offender will be moved to take place after the trial has occurred and a young offender has been found guilty. Under the new process, the Crown will indicate intention to seek adult sentences before the trial begins. The young offender will then elect to be tried in provincial youth court or by a superior court judge or by a superior court sitting with a jury. The court chosen will have access to the full range of adult sentences, following a conviction and when the required criteria are met.

3. Community-based Sentences

Most young offenders do not commit serious, violent crimes. Others may have committed more serious offences but are still at a point where custody and close contact with other, more experienced offenders would do more harm than good. Many of these young offenders would benefit from sentences like restitution, community service orders or personal services to their victim.

These kinds of sentences help young offenders understand, in a tangible way, the impact of their crime on others and offer them an opportunity to repair the harm they have done. Equally important, community-based sentences give victims a chance to express their views and feelings and can also encourage family members and the larger community to take part in resolving conflicts and developing answers to youth offending.

Proposal: The new youth justice legislation will put a stronger emphasis on the development of a full range of alternatives to custody for young offenders that emphasize responsibility to the victim and community.

4. Alternatives to the Courts

Frequently, young people misbehave because of problems that can be addressed more effectively through other means than the criminal justice system. Alternatives such as police cautioning, diversion programs and family group conferencing can be more effective and efficient responses to some youth crime. These programs can be tailored to meet the individual needs of youths and their communities, and can be adapted to respond to cultural and gender differences. Local communities need to have this flexibility in dealing with minor youth offending.

Proposal: The government is currently consulting with police organizations and others working with youth in the community to ensure that the new youth justice legislation gives them enough flexibility to make use of alternatives to the formal court process when appropriate.

5. Publication Of Names

Currently, the courts are open to the public and media may report on what is happening, but cannot publish the names of young offenders except under limited circumstances. This stems from the principle that young people are more likely than adults to be rehabilitated, and publication of their names could seriously harm their eventual reintegration into their communities.

The publication of names involves a number of important issues: community safety; freedom of the press; privacy; and the future rehabilitation of young people. The rights and needs of young people are important, but they must be balanced with the public's right to know, the value of an open and transparent system, the need for accountability by the offender, and the need to improve public confidence in the youth justice system.

Proposal: The proposals will allow the publication of the names of all young offenders who are found guilty and qualify for an adult sentence. Naming of 14- to 17-year-old young offenders convicted of murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, aggravated sexual assault and repeat, serious violent offences who receive a youth sentence could also be allowed.

6. The Role of Parents and Victims

Parents

Parents have both rights and responsibilities under the current youth law. For example, they have a right to receive information and notice about the case of their child. At present, a judge can also require a parent to attend court if the judge feels this is necessary. If the parent fails to do so, he or she can be charged with a crime. Under the new youth justice strategy, these measures will be maintained. The new proposals will also require young offenders or their parents to pay for their legal counsel in cases where they are fully capable of paying. Currently, these costs are covered by the provinces in all cases.

Victims

The role of victims in the youth justice system also needs to be made more clear. The government's strategy recognizes that much more can and should be done to support victims and provide them with more information and a greater role in legal proceedings if they wish. The new youth law will address additional or alternative ways to involve victims in the youth justice system, including providing victims with information about proceedings against young people so that they have an opportunity to participate. In addition, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights will be conducting a broad review of victim legislation and related issues, and is scheduled to issue a report in the fall of 1998. The Committee has been asked by the Minister of Justice to specifically consider the needs of victims of youth crime.

7. Admission of Statements

Current youth law is very complicated and describes in great detail when and how voluntary statements by youth can be admitted as evidence in their trials. The required process and procedures are so complex that voluntary statements can sometimes be excluded as evidence for technical reasons alone. It is essential that the rights and protections of young people are respected, but it is also important that justice is done and that the work of police and the courts is not impeded unnecessarily by overly complex procedures.

Proposal: Under the new law, the legal complexities involved in determining whether voluntary statements made by young offenders can be admitted as evidence will be reduced.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND INFORMATION

An effective youth justice system depends on the support and involvement of families and communities. More needs to be done to inform the public about the youth justice system and to involve them in identifying and developing solutions to youth crime in their own communities.

Proposal: The government's new youth justice strategy will include measures to consult with Canadians about new legislation and programs, to involve the public at the community level in building effective youth justice measures that respond to local needs, and to provide the public with more information about youth crime and the youth justice system.

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May, 1998