Section 7. Justice
Note to Readers: The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) came into force on April 1, 2003 and replaced the Young Offenders Act (YAO). Under both the YCJA and the former YOA, youth are defined as those aged 12 to 17. As a result, youth will be defined in this section as those aged 12 to 17 unless otherwise stated.
Most Canadians believe youth crime is on the rise and rank it as a high priority for the justice system. In a 1998 study, 77% of Canadians believed that sentencing of young offenders was too lenient1. While the rate of crime committed by youth between the ages of 12 and 17 has been decreasing in Canada over the past several years, some evidence suggested that the rate of incarceration of youth in Canada exceeded those of other countries in the Western world2. Additional concerns about the state of youth justice in Canada included the over-use of the courts for minor offences, disparities and unfairness of youth sentences and the lack of capacity and emphasis in the system to reintegrate the young person after being released from custody. These and other problems in the youth justice system prompted the government to launch the Youth Justice Renewal Initiative.
On April 1, 2003, the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA)3 came into force. This Act encourages the use of non-court measures for less serious offences. The YCJA established new sentencing principles - sentences must be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the young person. The sentence is required to be the least restrictive alternative and one that is most likely to promote rehabilitation. The Act also sets out specific restrictions on the use of custody. Custody is to be used primarily for violent offenders and serious repeat offenders when there are not other alternatives.
7.1 Youth as Victims
In 1999, the odds of victimization for young people aged 15 to 24 were nine times higher than those aged 55 and older4. Age was the strongest predictor of victimization5, and young persons, those aged 15 to 24 were at a higher risk than other age groups6. Also, research findings have found that men had a greater risk of violent victimization than women, people with low incomes had a greater risk of violent victimization and single people had a higher risk compared to married people7. Furthermore, the odds of victimization to those 15 to 24 (as compared to those 55 and over) were more than nine times higher for urban residence, but only six times higher for rural residents8.
It should be noted that being a student, while having most of the aforementioned lifestyle characteristics, lowered the risk of violent victimization, when compared to those whose main activity was something other than "student"9.
Young victims appear to have different reasons for reporting crime than do older victims. In particular, victims aged 15 to 24 years were more likely than older victims to report to the police in order to bring justice to the offender (77% compared to 70% for older victims) and to stop the incident or receive protection (73% versus 66%)10. In 1999, 23% of violent incidents involving victims aged 15 to 24 were reported to the police, compared to about 35% of incidents for victims aged 25 to 44 and 41% for those aged 45 or older11. Also, for the entire Canadian population, violent incidents involving male victims were more likely to be reported than those involving females12.
7.2 Youth Crime
In 2002, those aged 15 to 24 represented 13% of the total population while accounting for 46% of those charged13 with property crimes14 and 31% of persons charged with violent crimes15. In particular, those between 15 and 18 years of age were in the highest risk group for committing both violent and property crimes. For youths aged 12 to 17, violent crimes accounted for 24% of all charges in 2002, and property crimes were at the lowest rate that they have been at for the past 25 years, to 26%16.
Figure 7-1: Offences by Type and Age Group, 2002
Please note that data is for those accused, where accused refers to any person that has been identified by police as being involved in a criminal incident and includes those charged and those not charged.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Crime Statistics, 2002. Cat. no.: 85-205
As a result of higher rates of offending persons aged 15 to 24 and 25 to 34, and in the absence of changes in any other factors associated with offending behaviours, crime rates can be expected to drop as their share of the population declines. The general decline in crime rates since the early 1990s coincide with a decrease in the proportion of persons aged 15 to 2417. Fluctuations in other social or economic conditions may interact with demographic shifts to affect crime rates, such as a lack of social control due to a decreased attachment to social institutions (such as schools and communities)18.
However, it should be noted that in some particular cases, the decline in crime rates can also be related to other factors. For example, the use of police discretion with youth in Quebec and British Columbia has increased substantially in the past decade, with the result that they now have the lowest recorded proportion of apprehended youth charged. This appears to be due to their unique screening systems for charging youth19.
7.2.1 Violent Crime
In 2002, violent crime among youth fell 2%, following 2 years of increases20. After increasing steadily throughout the 1980s, the rate of youth charged with violent crimes continued to increase through the 1990s but at a slower rate. By 2002, the youth crime rate was 7% higher than ten years earlier. This trend may be somewhat related to the increasing tendency of police not to formally charge youth with less serious property crime.
Figure 7-2: Percentage of Total Offences of Violent Crime by Type and Age, 2002
Please note that data is for those accused, where accused refers to any person that has been identified by police as being involved in a criminal incident and includes those charged and those not charged.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Crime Statistics, 2002. Cat. no.: 85-205
Youth do not account for the largest cohort accused of violent crime. Robbery is the only violent crime for which youth make up a substantial proportion of those charged, at 32% in 2002. Over the past ten years, there has been a 4% increase in the number of youths charged.
Of persons charged with homicide in 2002, 9% were youths aged 12 to 17. The rate of youths charged with homicide has been generally declining since 1995. Most youth homicides are committed by males, the proportion of females accused (21%) was higher for youth accused than for adults accused (10%). Provincially, Manitoba has the highest number of youth homicides (6.9 per 100,000 youth), followed by British Columbia (3.4 per 100,000).
7.2.2 Property Crime
Property crimes involve unlawful acts with the intent of acquiring property but without the threat of violence. Overall, the rate of property crime in Canada is on the decline and in 2002 was the lowest it has been since 197321. The rate of youth charged with property crimes is the lowest it has been in 25 years and in 2002, youth charged with property crime declined for the 11th consecutive year by 5%22.
A larger proportion of all property crimes are committed by the youth aged categories of 12 to 24. The rate of youths accused but not charged with property crimes also decreased by 4% in 2002. Therefore, while youth involvement in property crime has been falling, the drop is not as great if the use of informal processes (warnings or alternative measures) is taken into account.
Figure 7-3: Percentage of Total Offences of Property Crime by Type and Age, 2002
Please note that data is for those accused, where accused refers to any person that has been identified by police as being involved in a criminal incident and includes those charged and those not charged.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Crime Statistics, 2002. Cat. no.: 85-205
More than one of every three (37%) persons charged with break-ins are youth aged 12 to 17. In 2002, the rate of youths charged with break-ins was down 6% from the previous year and 57% from 10 years ago. Vehicle theft is also a crime associated with young offenders. In 2002, 40% of persons charged with this crime were between the ages of 12 and 17. The only other offence with similarly high proportions of youth charged was arson (40%).
7.2.3 Offences Against the Administration of Justice
Although the recorded rate of youth crime in Canada has not changed substantially in the past 20 years, offences against the administration of justice have increased exponentially. Almost all of these are violations of bail or probation conditions and failures to appear for court. The recorded rate of bail condition violations and failures to appear by youth in 2000 was approximately 20 times as high as in 1983. In the year 2000, offences against the administration of justice accounted for 16% of all youth charged in Canada. In fiscal 1999/2000, administrative offences accounted for 27% of all Youth Court cases, and 40% of all custodial dispositions23.
7.2.4 Other Criminal Code Violations
Criminal Code incidents are those that do not fit into violent or property crimes and in 2002 accounted for 35% of all charges under the Criminal Code. Other Criminal Code incidents tend to have high rates of youth offending, particularly for the offence of mischief. In 2002, one-third of all persons charged with mischief were between the ages of 12 and 17.
Figure 7-4: Percentage of Total Offences of Other Criminal Code Violations by Type and Age, 2002
Please note that data is for those accused, where accused refers to any person that has been identified by police as being involved in a criminal incident and includes those charged and those not charged.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Crime Statistics, 2002. Cat. no.: 85-205
The proportion of youth charged with drug offences24 declines with the severity of the type of drug. In 2002, 22% of persons charged with possession of cannabis were youth aged 12 to 17, compared to only 3% of all persons charged with cocaine possession, and 1% of all persons charged with possession of heroin25.
7.3 Youth Court
In 2002-2003, youth courts in Canada processed 84,600 cases, involving 205,100 charges26. Total cases processed in youth court have decreased 20% between 1990-92 and 2002-03, primarily due to the steady decline in the number of crimes against property cases. Over the twelve year period beginning in 1991-92, the number of crimes against property cases has dropped 47%. The large majority of cases (81%) had a criminal code charge as the most serious offence in the case. The types of cases processed in youth courts most often involved crimes against property (38%) and crimes against the person (27%).
Half of youth court cases involved 16 and 17 year olds. In 2002-03, 16-year-olds accounted for 25% of cases and 17-year-olds made up 28%. Cases involving drug offences implicated a high proportion of older youth, with 16 and 17 year olds comprising 71% of drug related offences in 2002-03.
Males accounted for 77% of youth court cases and they predominated in all age groups. While the proportion of cases against males increased with age, cases against 15 year old females accounted for the largest proportion of cases against females (24%).
The conviction rate was 60% for cases disposed in youth court in 2002-03. Probation was the most serious sentence in over one half of cases with convictions (57%). Open and secure custody was the next most serious sentence (14%). Other sanctions such as compensation, restitution and conditional or absolute discharges were ordered in 31% of guilty cases27.
7.4 Custody Admissions
On any given day in 2001-02, there was an average of approximately 34,850 youths (aged 12 to 17) either in custody or under supervised probation in Canada28. Most of the youth in the correctional population were in supervised probation29 (90%) with 8% in sentenced custody30 and 2% in remand31. There has been a slight increase in the number of youths in custody or supervised custody since 2001-02. In comparison to the previous year, increases occurred in probation (1%) and remand (2%) while sentenced custody decreased (7%)32.
In 2001-02, property offences accounted for the highest proportion (36%) of custody admissions33 among the nine jurisdictions34 that reported data, with the exception of Manitoba (where violent offences were most common) and British Columbia (where drug-related offences were most common). Violent offences accounted for 32% of probation and admissions and 28% of sentenced custody admissions.
Time served by youth in remand is generally short. Half of all remanded youth were released within one week, 54% of those in secure custody and 44% in open custody were released after one month or less35.
Most alternative measure36 cases are for non-violent crimes. In 2001-02, 64% of alternative measure admissions were for property offences and only a small proportion of alternative measure admissions were for violent (10%) and other offences (7%)37.
7.4.1 Characteristics of Youth Offenders in Correctional Services
The majority of youths involved in crime are male. In 2001-02, over three-quarters (76%) of youth charged with a Criminal Code offence were male and 24% were female38. Similarly, approximately eight in ten youth court cases and admissions to correctional services involved males in 2001-02. Also male youths admitted to custody, probation and alternative measures tend to be older than females. In 2001-02, 60% of male youths remanded were aged 16 years or older compared to 49% of females39. With respect to probation, 62% of males were 16 years and older whereas 50% of females were that age.
While Aboriginal persons accounted for approximately 5% of the youth population in Canada, in 2001-02, they accounted for 25% admissions to remand, 22% of sentenced custody admissions and 17% of probation admissions40. Please refer to section 10.5 for further details.
7.4.2 Use of Police Discretion and Alternative Measures41
When dealing with youth crime, the use of police discretion seems to be of common use by the police officers. In a report to the attention of the Department of Justice Canada in 2003, almost all of the agencies of the sample used informal warnings, and one-third used various types of formal warnings. Many forms of informal action are open to an officer who has apprehended a youth - taking no action, informal and formal warnings, involving the parents, arresting and taking the youth to the police station and then releasing him or her, and informal referral to a program (i.e. without invoking Alternative Measures).
Approximately half of the same sample referred youth to pre-charge diversion programs, whether under the auspices of Alternative Measures or not. Diversion to a program or agency was often seen as a much more effective way of dealing with a youth's perceived criminogenic problem than referring him or her to Youth Court; also, referral to Alternative Measures was seen as a useful intermediate sanction, representing a consequence for the youth which was more severe than informal action, but less harsh than laying a charge. By far the greatest source of dissatisfaction with AM programs which was expressed by many police officers was their unavailability. In many communities, the range of programs was inadequate; in many others, there were no programs at all.
Finally the choice of the measure to be taken by the police officers was also influenced by different factors. In effect, it was found that environmental (the lack of resources, the lack of suitable diversion programs, the level of youth crimes?), organizational (the presence or not of a youth section or dedicated youth officers, the autonomy of the police officers, the proactivity in the work...) and situational factors (the presence and type of weapon, the harm done to the person or property of a victim, the youth's criminal history...) all had an impact on the choice of the measures to be taken by the police officers.
1 Statistics Canada. The Canada e-Book (11-404-XIE) (is based on the 2001 Canada Year Book).
2 Statistics Canada. The Canada e-Book (11-404-XIE) (is based on the 2001 Canada Year Book).
3 For further information, please refer to: http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/dept/pub/ycja/youth.html
4 Statistics Canada, A Profile of Criminal Victimization: Results of the 1999 General Social Survey. 2001: 85-553-XIE.
5 Victimization is defined as of one or more those the following offences: violent crimes (sexual assault, robbery and assault), household crimes (break and enter, motor vehicle/parts theft, theft of household property and vandalism) and theft of personal property.
6 Statistics Canada, Juristat: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. 85-002-XPE: vol.23, no.5, 2003.
7 Statistics Canada, A Profile of Criminal Victimization: Results of the 1999 General Social Survey. 2001: 85-553-XIE.
8 Statistics Canada, A Profile of Criminal Victimization: Results of the 1999 General Social Survey. 2001: 85-553-XIE.
9 Statistics Canada, A Profile of Criminal Victimization: Results of the 1999 General Social Survey. 2001: 85-553-XIE.
10 Statistics Canada, A Profile of Criminal Victimization: Results of the 1999 General Social Survey. 2001: 85-553-XIE.
11 Statistics Canada, A Profile of Criminal Victimization: Results of the 1999 General Social Survey. 2001: 85-553-XIE.
12 Statistics Canada, A Profile of Criminal Victimization: Results of the 1999 General Social Survey. 2001: 85-553-XIE.
13 Refers to person who have been formally charged or recommended to be charged by police.
14 Property crimes involve unlawful acts with the intent of acquiring property but without the use or threat of violence. Property crimes include breaking and entering, theft of money and motor vehicles, possession of stolen goods and fraud.
15 Statistics Canada - Juristat, Crime Statistics in Canada, 2002 - 85-002-XIE, Vol.23, No.5, 2003.
16 Statistics Canada - Juristat, Crime Statistics in Canada, 2002 - 85-002-XIE, Vol.23, No.5, 2003.
17 Statistics Canada - Juristat, Crime Statistics in Canada, 2002 - 85-002-XIE, Vol.23, No.5, 2003.
18 Statistics Canada - Juristat, Crime Statistics in Canada, 2002 - 85-002-XIE, Vol.23, No.5, 2003.
19 This paragraph has been sourced from Justice Canada - Police Discretion With Young Offenders -available at: http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/yj/research/carrington-schulenberg/report.html
20 All sources for this paragraph are from Statistics Canada - Juristat, Crime Statistics in Canada, 2002 - 85-002-XIE, Vol.23, No.5, 2003.
21 Statistics Canada - Juristat, Crime Statistics in Canada, 2002 - 85-002-XIE, Vol.23, No.5, 2003.
22 Statistics Canada - Juristat, Crime Statistics in Canada, 2002 - 85-002-XIE, Vol.23, No.5, 2003.
23 This paragraph has been sourced from Justice Canada - Police Discretion With Young Offenders -available at: http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/yj/research/carrington-schulenberg/report.html
24 Includes drug possession, drug trafficking, as well as the importation, exportation and production of drugs.
25 Statistics Canada - Juristat, Crime Statistics in Canada, 2002 - 85-002-XIE, Vol.23, No.5, 2003.
26 This section on Youth Court has been sourced from Statistics Canada - Juristat, Youth Court Statistics, 2002/03: 85-002-XIE, Vol.24, No.2, 2003 unless otherwise stated.
27 Cases can have more than one sentence; therefore, sanctions are not mutually exclusive and will not add to 100%. Sourced from Statistics Canada - Juristat, Youth Court Statistics, 2002/03: 85-002-XIE, Vol.24, No.2, 2003.
28 Please note that this section provides an overview of youth, 12 to 17, in Canada in 2001/02 and represents youth corrections activity under the Young Offenders Act, as the new YCJA came into effect in 2003. Sourced from Statistics Canada - Juristat, Youth Custody and Community Services in Canada, 2001/02: 85-002-XIE, Vol.24, No.3.
29 The offender is placed under the supervision of a probation officer or other designated person.
30 A status that requires the young offender to spend time in a designated correctional facility, either in secure custody, open custody or remand as ordered by youth court.
31 To hold a young person temporarily in custody, pursuant to a Remand Warrant, whole awaiting trial or sentencing, or prior to commencement of a custodial disposition.
32 Statistics Canada - Juristat, Youth Custody and Community Services in Canada, 2001/02: 85-002-XIE, Vol.24, No.3.
33 Custody admissions includes remand, secure and open custody.
34 These nine jurisdictions are Newfoundland & Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Ontario (16 &17 year-olds), Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
35 Statistics Canada - Juristat, Youth Custody and Community Services in Canada, 2001/02: 85-002-XIE, Vol.24, No.3.
36 Alternative measures refer to formalized programs through which persons who would otherwise proceed to court are dealt with via non-judicial, community based alternatives. The involvement of a youth in an alternative measures program depends upon the youth acknowledging the incident and agreeing to enter the program.
37 Statistics Canada - Juristat, Youth Custody and Community Services in Canada, 2001/02: 85-002-XIE, Vol.24, No.3.
38 All sources for this section on characteristics of young offenders are found within: Statistics Canada - Juristat, Youth Custody and Community Services in Canada, 2001/02: 85-002-XIE, Vol.24, No.3.
39 Excludes New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario 12 to 15 year olds, and Saskatchewan due to the unavailability of data.
40 Statistics Canada - Juristat, Youth Custody and Community Services in Canada, 2001/02: 85-002-XIE, Vol.24, No.3.
41 This section has been sourced from Justice Canada - Police Discretion With Young Offenders -available at: http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/yj/research/carrington-schulenberg/report.html
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