Statement on the new Youth Criminal Justice Act

On April 1 2003 the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) replaced the Young Offenders Act (YOA) in Canada. 

The new act has the potential to lower the number of girls who are jailed since it says that youth should only be jailed as a last resort.  Right now Canada imprisons more youth per capita than any other western country including the United States.

While we are hopeful about the new act’s potential we are also seriously concerned that the act erodes privacy rights of girls, could actually increase the number of youth sentenced as adults, and makes it possible for the government to claw back legal aid money from parents (mainly single moms).

While watching youth court for over two years we have seen that girls are incarcerated very often for breaches (breaking a condition/s of their bail or probation) especially if they have a drug addiction.  We see girls with  addictions being jailed "for their own protection" by judges and crown lawyers who want to protect them from sexual exploitation and stop them from using drugs.  We see girls being forced into treatment through bail and probation conditions and we have seen that if girls leave this treatment they are charged with breaching their “attend residential treatment” or “reside” condition and often jailed. 

This is where the YCJA comes in.  The new act says that judges can only jail youth for serious breach violations. If this is implemented then less girls will be jailed for their own protection since breaking a curfew or leaving residential treatment are not serious breaches.  JFG will be watching youth court to see what happens.

We have reasons to be sceptical: under the YOA youth weren’t supposed to be jailed as a substitute for child protection, health or other social measures and yet girls were jailed to stop them from using drugs (health issue) and protect them from sexual exploitation (child protection issue). 

In the YCJA the word “health” has been removed from that list.  This means that jail could in theory be used to substitute health measures including drug treatment and defence lawyers would have a harder time arguing that this is illegal.

It’s disturbing that under both the YOA and new YCJA youth could be sentenced adults at 14 (for murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, aggravated sexual assault). 

It’s also disturbing that under the YCJA there is a new category of an offence called a “third serious violent offence”.  Someone as young as 14 who is charged under that category can be sentenced as an adult.  We, and many other advocates for people in prison, are very concerned about how broad and undefined this category is.  We are worried that girls who are charged with three lower-level assaults for example (for things like slapping someone) may be sentenced as adults under the “third serious violent offence” category.