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Youth Criminal Justice Act: Building Safe Streets and Communities (Full) — Transcript

by Department of Justice Canada · 4,029 words · 575 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:06♫
0:11I don't really remember all of what happened the night I was arrested
0:15because I was intoxicated and stuff.
0:17I started drinking, doing drugs
0:18so I kept on getting in trouble with the law
0:21so I kept on going back and forth
0:24in jail and out of jail, in and out of jail...
0:27I was just like whoa, what have I done?
0:30You know? What have I,
0:32what have I become? You know, it takes a village
0:37to raise a child
0:40and I think that's the perspective of
0:42The Youth Criminal Justice Act is coming from.
0:44It's about real consequences happening right away
0:47and youth can relate to that.
0:49I think it is important to remember that
0:51it's kind of not a one-size-fits-all approach,
0:53that we have to pay attention to every youth
0:56that we come into contact with.
0:58They get to take responsibility for what they have done
1:01and really own up to it
1:03and for a lot of people that is really freeing.
1:07The Youth Criminal Justice Act, or YCJA,
1:09is the federal law which governs Canada's youth justice system.
1:14The Act applies to Canadian youth aged 12 to 17
1:17who get into trouble with the law.
1:20The YCJA came into force in 2003
1:23and was amended in 2012
1:26to strengthen its handling
1:27of violent and repeat young offenders.
1:31Almost every country in the world
1:33has some special legislation or provisions
1:37that recognize that children, adolescents,
1:39are not to be treated in the same way as adults.
1:42That they have a limited state of maturity,
1:45they have a limited state of moral development,
1:48intellectual development
1:49and they are often more amenable to rehabilitation.
1:59The Youth Criminal Justice Act states that
2:01the youth criminal justice system
2:03is intended to protect the public
2:05by holding youth accountable,
2:07promoting the rehabilitation
2:08and reintegration of youth back into society,
2:11and preventing crime.
2:13It emphasizes that the youth criminal justice system
2:16must be separate from the adult system,
2:18and based on the principle that youth are presumed
2:21to be less morally blameworthy than adults.
2:24In other words, the law recognizes that youth
2:26must be held accountable,
2:28but in a way that takes into account
2:30their greater dependency and reduced level of maturity.
2:34A key objective, a key principal of the Act
2:37is to try to promote
2:39the protection of Canadian public.
2:40And that includes the short-term protection
2:43which may in some circumstance
2:44mean removing the young offender from the community
2:47but it also includes the long-term protection
2:49of society by rehabilitating young people,
2:52by dealing with their underlying problems.
2:54It also provides more structure
2:56to the decision making of judges,
2:58probation officers and others,
3:01and tries to ensure that custody is used as a last resort
3:05and it's largely been successful in achieving that.
3:09This is a much improved situation than we had before
3:13under The Young Offenders Act
3:14because I am now looking more
3:16at not just representing clients
3:18but we have to look at trying to find ways
3:21to deal with underlying issues
3:23which the court might need to address in sentencing
3:26in order to assist in the rehabilitation of young persons.
3:35The majority of youth crimes involve non-violent activities
3:39such as shoplifting,
3:41possession of stolen property,
3:43breach of probation, or relatively minor assaults
3:46that do not involve bodily harm.
3:48Experience in Canada and other countries shows that
3:51measures outside the formal court process
3:54can provide an effective response to youth crime,
3:57and one of the key objectives
3:59of the Youth Criminal Justice Act
4:01is to encourage the use of non-court responses
4:04in appropriate cases.
4:06These Extrajudicial Measures
4:08can provide meaningful consequences,
4:10such as requiring the young person
4:12to repair the harm done to the victim.
4:15They also allow early intervention with young people
4:18and provide the opportunity for the broader community
4:21to play an important role
4:22in developing community-based responses to youth crime.
4:27The Act does give police officers
4:30the discretion to use pre-charge options
4:34and in fact it requires them to give first consideration
4:37to the use of extrajudicial measures
4:40as a means of addressing offending behaviour.
4:45The police officer can choose to
4:47verbally warn the youth,
4:49or issue a formal caution,
4:51where the youth is actually
4:53formally warned that they could be charged
4:55if that type of offending behaviour continues.
4:59The police officer can convene a conference
5:02to call together our community partners
5:05for the purpose of making recommendations
5:07related to appropriate extrajudicial measures.
5:13Extrajudicial sanctions are the most formal type
5:16of extrajudicial measure and must be applied
5:18through a program approved by the Attorney General.
5:22These sanctions, such as volunteer work,
5:24compensating or paying back the victim,
5:27or attending a specialized program,
5:29can be applied where the young person
5:31takes responsibility for the offence.
5:33If the young person fails to comply with the terms
5:36and conditions of the sanction
5:38the case may proceed through the court process.
5:43As far as extrajudicial sanctions go,
5:45we have a 95% success rate,
5:48meaning that in 95% of cases,
5:50even if the measure is voluntary,
5:52the young offender will choose to do it,
5:55and that is a very positive sign.
5:59First of all they work because the youth is willing.
6:01So that's one of the criteria,
6:03they also need a good support system,
6:05and then they can come to understand
6:07the consequences of their actions.
6:09When they get to speak to the victim,
6:11that's when they realize,
6:13Oh I really caused some pain,
6:14cause often they do the act
6:16but don't think about all the consequences.
6:18So that's why it works.
6:20It's a whole cooperative process,
6:22everyone agrees and most of the time,
6:24the youth doesn't reoffend.
6:26Oh it was just before Halloween,
6:29and me and my friend Mike were just out
6:31on Main Street walkin' around
6:34and he told me about this bike
6:36and he told me he wanted it
6:38and just asked me to go get it for him.
6:42Oh it was right by the step of the house
6:45and I just grabbed it,
6:47and we started bikin' through the trail in the woods.
6:51Well it was like right before Halloween
6:54and I was just goin' to go out for trick or treatin'
6:56and then I got, I went outside
6:59and I was goin' to put my bike in the shed
7:02and I went out and it wasn't there.
7:06In this case,
7:07the youth was referred to a rural New Brunswick program
7:10offering youth who've committed less serious crimes
7:13an alternative to going to court.
7:16The program encouraged young people
7:17to take responsibility for their actions
7:20and make amends by facing the community
7:22and the victim.
7:25I just felt really bad, really guilty...
7:30I didn't really want to meet them
7:32because I didn't know what was going to happen.
7:36Well I was mad that he stole my bike
7:40and he probably was pretty upset at what he did too
7:44and he's probably not goin' to do it again
7:47cause he doesn't want to be known as a thief.
7:51Is it this one or is it this one here?
7:53It's the bright yellow one.
7:54The bright yellow one, the Scorcher, the stunt bike.
7:57The program helped the young man
7:58who stole the bike realize the impact
8:00the theft had had on other people.
8:03He decided to make up for it
8:05by buying the 10-year old a brand new bike
8:07to replace the one that had been stripped for parts.
8:10It was an expensive lesson...
8:12but a very important one!
8:16It's not right to steal.
8:19And I'll never do it again
8:22and if I ever do see somebody doin' it
8:24then I'm goin' to let them know that it's not right.
8:33If a young person's case is not resolved
8:35through extrajudicial measures
8:37then it will be dealt with in youth court.
8:40When a young person is charged with an offence,
8:42they may remain in the community,
8:44often with strict conditions, or,
8:46if the court deems it necessary,
8:48be kept in custody until the trial takes place.
8:52Being held in custody while awaiting trial
8:54is known as pre-trial detention.
8:58The Youth Criminal Justice Act has provisions to try
9:00to make sure that young people are only placed in detention
9:04either for the immediate protection of the public
9:06or to ensure that they will attend court.
9:09The youth court judge faces a very difficult decision
9:12knowing that this could have a very dramatic impact
9:14on the life of the young person.
9:16And typically detention is sought
9:18if it is either a very serious offence,
9:21perhaps involving significant violence in the community,
9:23or if the young person has a fairly lengthy record
9:26of prior offending,
9:28or has a record of having been released on bail
9:30on certain conditions
9:32and having failed to comply with those conditions.
9:38If a youth pleads guilty
9:39or is found guilty of a criminal offence,
9:41the youth court judge must determine
9:43the appropriate sentence.
9:46The purpose of youth sentences is
9:48to hold the young person accountable
9:50by imposing sanctions
9:51that have meaningful consequences
9:53and that promote rehabilitation
9:55and reintegration.
9:57The YCJA provides youth court judges
9:59with many different sentencing options
10:02to deal with the full range of youth crime.
10:05These include both community-based sentences
10:07and custody sentences.
10:09The maximum length of youth sentences
10:12ranges from two to ten years depending on the offence.
10:16Even when young people are found guilty,
10:19or convicted of an offence,
10:21the courts still have options to have creative sentences.
10:25So all the opportunities that are presented
10:28in terms of referring young people to agencies,
10:31having them go to an attendance centre,
10:33have them attend drug and alcohol counselling,
10:36doing community service work,
10:38have them have an opportunity to meet with a probation officer
10:42are all outside of a more formal process.
10:46So these measures are excellent in that
10:49they draw on the strengths and talents of young people,
10:53they involve our community members
10:55to be supportive adults to help in the raising and
10:58development of young people in our communities.
11:02The YCJA, in my opinion,
11:05gives the justice system the opportunity to try
11:10and nip criminal offences in the bud if we can.
11:14And allow for some more creative sentencing,
11:17allow for more resources to be employed,
11:20so that this may be the only time this person
11:22appears in the criminal justice system
11:24as an accused person.
11:26The range of sanctions,
11:28at the low end we start with something called a reprimand.
11:31Simply the judge talking to the young person
11:34and warning them of the future consequence if they re-offend.
11:37Trying to perhaps assess what has happened.
11:40We have a range of situations
11:42where there may be a discharge imposed,
11:44the young person is released
11:46without further sanctions or record.
11:47In more serious cases and perhaps
11:50the most common sentence that is imposed under the Act
11:52is probation.
11:54So the young person's released into the community
11:56but has to meet certain conditions
11:57in terms of their behaviour,
11:59often in terms of reporting to a probation officer,
12:02perhaps having a curfew,
12:03restrictions placed on who they can associate with.
12:06In more serious cases we have custody.
12:09There is open custody which may have a young person
12:12living away from their family but in a group home,
12:15there are also provisions for more secure custody
12:18which is really effectively jail for young persons
12:20in secure facilities.
12:23Under the YCJA,
12:24custody sentences are intended primarily for violent offenders
12:28and serious repeat offenders.
12:30In some very serious cases,
12:32the YCJA also allows judges to impose an
12:35intensive rehabilitative custody and supervision order
12:38if a youth has been found guilty of
12:40a serious violent offence and is suffering from a mental,
12:43psychological or emotional disorder.
12:47In these cases,
12:48an individualized treatment plan
12:50is developed for the young person.
12:52It involves very intensive treatment,
12:54where they have a whole team of psychiatrists,
12:57psychologists and medical doctors and nurses,
12:59all kinds of therapists working with that young person
13:03trying to get what is going on underneath the violence,
13:06and work on getting them back into the community.
13:09It's expensive but it works
13:11and it's just an amazing thing
13:13with the clients that have been there so far.
13:16While in most cases judges impose
13:18one of the youth sentencing options within the YCJA,
13:21the Act does allow judges
13:23to impose an adult sentence on a youth
13:25who is found guilty of a serious offence
13:28and was 14 years of age or older
13:30when the crime was committed.
13:32In fact, prosecutors are obligated
13:34to consider seeking an adult sentence
13:37when a youth is found guilty of murder,
13:39attempted murder, manslaughter
13:41or aggravated sexual assault.
13:44However, the Act does allow provinces
13:46to set the age at which this obligation applies
13:49to 15 or 16.
13:53When a judge decides to impose an adult sentence,
13:56the Criminal Code penalties that apply to adult offenders
13:59are applied to the youth.
14:01This can include mandatory minimum penalties
14:04and sentences of up to life imprisonment.
14:08However, under the YCJA,
14:11no portion of either an adult or a youth sentence
14:14can be served in an adult rison
14:17while the youth is still under the age of 18.
14:24The YCJA recognizes that young people coming out of custody
14:28will need assistance in successfully reintegrating
14:30into the community.
14:32Therefore, part of every youth custody sentence
14:35must include a set period of community supervision.
14:39A youth worker helps the young person
14:41plan for their reintegration into the community
14:44and provides support to help
14:46ensure a successful transition back into society.
14:49When you are dealing with a young person
14:51you are usually dealing with the family unit
14:53to see what's causing this young person to come in conflict
14:56with the law.
14:57Some of these young people are very marginalized
14:59in a lot of negative risk factors
15:01built within their lives.
15:03So they come from single families, poverty,
15:06they have been victims of abuse, abandonment,
15:08mental health issues, families entrenched in gangs
15:12and you have to start weeding out
15:14the negative risk factors in their lives
15:17to help steer that young person into a meaningful
15:19contributing member of society.
15:22And that takes time, that takes resources,
15:24that takes patience, and again
15:25The Youth Criminal Justice Act in my opinion,
15:28really recognizes that aspect.
15:32It includes a lot of community partners
15:34and we try to involve as much as we can
15:37so the young person has support going out
15:40and to try to make it successful for that young person
15:44to reintegrate in the community.
15:47Some people think I need to be in jail, that's fine,
15:50and I think that ah
15:52jail didn't work for me before
15:55and this program has actually helped me.
15:58She was serving time for credit card fraud
16:01and though she has completed her probation, she comes back
16:04to the reintegration support program often.
16:08She can't change her past,
16:09but she says it's time to do something about her future.
16:14You know I see something better
16:16in the people around me
16:17and I look up to a lot of a lot of older people you know
16:22from here and out there
16:25I just see ladies with their life together
16:28they got stuff going for them and I look up to that
16:30and I want something like that.
16:33We have all seen the prison movies
16:35of releasing someone with a new suit of clothes
16:38and two bucks in their pocket.
16:41It doesn't work because
16:42people are then without resources in the community.
16:46So the gradual approach of
16:48having someone in a treatment facility for a period of time,
16:51then released to an open custody.
16:53There have been some people
16:55that have actually ended up with job skills
16:57as a result of participating
17:00in a community service work project.
17:03And those job skills become transferable
17:05into the non-criminal world.
17:08We cannot do the work for the young persons.
17:11We're here to help them to make choices.
17:13We can list for them what the pros and cons are
17:16for decisions that they make
17:17but they have to, in the end,
17:19make that choice for themselves.
17:24While youth court proceedings
17:26take place in open court,
17:27meaning that members of the public
17:29can attend and observe the proceedings,
17:32the YCJA does contain specific provisions
17:35regarding the publication of a youth's identity.
17:38As a general rule,
17:40no identifying information that would reveal
17:43that a young person has been dealt with
17:45by the youth justice system can be published.
17:48The rationale for this general rule
17:50is that publication can undermine efforts
17:53to rehabilitate and reintegrate young people
17:56back into the community.
17:58However,
17:59there are exceptions to the rule against publication.
18:02For example,
18:03when a youth court imposes an adult sentence,
18:06the publication ban is automatically lifted.
18:09The YCJA also allows for publication when
18:12a youth sentence is imposed for a violent offence,
18:15and the judge finds that lifting the publication ban
18:18is necessary to protect the public
18:21against a significant risk that the young person
18:23will commit another violent offence.
18:30The Youth Criminal Justice Act recognizes
18:32the importance of involving families,
18:35victims and communities
18:37in the youth criminal justice system.
18:39One way in which this is being done
18:41is through conferences.
18:43Under the Act,
18:44a conference is defined as a group of people
18:47brought together to give advice to decision-makers such as police officers and
18:49judges.
18:52A conference can give advice
18:54on appropriate extrajudicial measures,
18:57conditions for release from pre-trial detention,
18:59appropriate sentences,
19:01and plans for reintegrating a young person
19:04back into the community after being in custody.
19:07An extrajudicial conference can be a situation
19:11where we get a larger group of people together
19:13rather than just a judge and a Crown prosecutor
19:16and the people that happen to be in a court room.
19:19Get a larger group of people together,
19:21in a sense a community,
19:22made up of the offender and his supporters,
19:26the victim and that person's supporters
19:29and perhaps some other individuals
19:32that are interested in the case.
19:35It takes a restorative approach,
19:36it takes a community approach
19:38in the sense that it's initiated by most of the time
19:41the Crown or the judge or the justice of peace.
19:44And what they do, they bring the youth,
19:46whoever's involved in the youths life,
19:48any community members that's involved in the youth's life
19:50and before the sentence
19:51they take into consideration the opinion
19:53or everyone gets to voice their opinion on this so the judge is able to make a more informed decision.
19:59The purpose of these conferences
20:01is to bring together people who have been involved in an offence
20:04in a way that really takes into account
20:06that it's a relationship that's been harmed
20:08not just laws that have been broken.
20:10And the meetings are usually attended
20:12by three of our youth members,
20:14an adult adviser who is there to give input and advice,
20:17the offender, and often although it is not necessary,
20:21the victim will be there.
20:23At the end of the conference we come to an agreement
20:26and we come up with a resolution
20:28that we can propose to the court.
20:30It's very informal, it's very personal
20:32and so it's a very different conversation
20:34than you might have with a police officer,
20:36with a lawyer or with a social worker
20:39or especially a judge.
20:41There was just so much going through my head,
20:44you know, like
20:46the biggest thing I was worried about was like,
20:48at the time was like, am I going to go to jail.
20:52He was just 13 when he stole a brand new truck
20:55from a Calgary street.
20:57It was the early hours of the morning
20:59and he and his young passenger were on a joyride.
21:03When he realized that they were being followed by the police,
21:06he stepped on the gas and tried to escape.
21:09I was going about a hundred and thirty, and I ah,
21:12I was going around this wide turn and I ah,
21:16caught some gravel on the right side of the road,
21:19and the back end kicked out
21:21and we skipped the median,
21:23and went through ah, three fences,
21:27and then we hit a retaining wall going at they said,
21:31approximately like a hundred kilometres an hour.
21:35The vehicle was totalled.
21:37Both boys were almost killed.
21:39After he was charged,
21:41the young driver was referred to a Calgary program that targets
21:44offences that are serious enough to warrant custody.
21:49A young person must first enter a guilty plea.
21:52They also have to meet their victims
21:54in a community conference.
21:56The interests and needs of victims
21:58are clearly recognized in the YCJA
22:01and encourage their participation
22:04in community-based approaches.
22:06I thought it, like I kinda owed it to em,
22:09you know, even though I didn't know em, you know,
22:12like if, if they wanted to you know, I was willing.
22:15And then the morning hit and I was just like, well,
22:18as we were driving to the place, I was just like scared, you know,
22:22I'm like geez I don't know if I want to do this.
22:25I wasn't worried about meeting him
22:26I wanted to see where this person was coming from.
22:30What you know we were probably anxious
22:32we wanted to meet him to see what was going on
22:35and you know what kind of punk was this?
22:38And then I got there, and I'm just like,
22:40well they were probably just like me when I was little,
22:43you know, like not
22:44maybe not with some of the crime and whatever, but
22:47yeah, they, they were down to earth,
22:49and they were pretty cool about it, you know,
22:52like I was amazed, like I thought like,
22:54I know I would just be flipping out, if someone stole my truck.
22:58So we ended up meeting them
23:00and he had brought his whole family
23:03and me and my husband went and met with them
23:07and ah so we got to tell him how we felt about the situation.
23:11And we told him how angry and disappointed
23:14we were and how we were concerned about his life
23:17that he could have killed himself, killed his best friend
23:22and you know we some of us shed tears
23:24and his mom and it was a great opportunity
23:29to get involved with this.
23:35Through the community conference,
23:37the boy offered to provide personal service
23:39to the victim and her family
23:41- doing lawn work, even helping them move.
23:44When he returned to court for sentencing,
23:46the judge took this into consideration.
23:49While the youth was still sentenced to
23:5118 months probation,
23:53he could have faced time in custody.
23:58I think what I did is better than going to jail
24:01because I mean,
24:03you might not learn if you go to jail
24:05you know like
24:06you would never like I would never know
24:09how it affected them like Mike and Monica.
24:11I would never know like
24:12now they only had one vehicle to like go to work
24:16and like drop their kids off at daycare
24:18and just little things like that you know.
24:20And like that. that actually made me like learn
24:23and like I don't know
24:25it just helped me a lot.
24:30I'm glad, like I try to keep busy. Like I haven't drank.
24:33I would like to go back to school because
24:35I only have like, three grade 12 courses I need
24:38and then I'm graduated.
24:40Well, it showed me that I was able to go to work
24:43and be on a schedule,
24:44and to get to work in time everyday.
24:47And it showed me that I could be self-sufficient.
24:50Now I know there is a purpose to life.
24:55The Youth Criminal Justice Act is the legal foundation
24:58upon which Canada's
24:59Youth Criminal Justice System is built.
25:02It recognizes that in order to protect society,
25:05youth who commit crimes must be held accountable
25:08through measures that are proportionate
25:10to the seriousness of the offence.
25:12The measures taken should also aim
25:14to promote the rehabilitation of youth,
25:17to help them successfully reintegrate back into society
25:20and prevent them from committing further offences.
25:25Across the country, the Government of Canada,
25:28provincial and territorial governments,
25:30police, lawyers, judges and others are working
25:34in close partnership with communities and families
25:37to ensure that Canada has a fair and effective
25:40youth justice system that helps
25:42to keep our streets and communities safe.
25:46♫

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