Bill C‐7: The new youth criminal justice act: A darker young offenders act?

Abstract

Recently, in Canada, there was a push to replace existing youth legislation, entitled the Young Offenders Act (YOA). This push was a result of several perceived failures of the YOA and has culminated in a new piece of youth legislation, Bill C‐7: The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). The Department of Justice has stressed that the YCJA will rectify the substantive problems of the YOA. This policy paper provides an analysis of the claims of the Canadian government by focusing on the substantive sections of the YCJA, comparing the YCJA with the YOA, and incorporating social science research dealing with the probable effects of the innovations. Specifically, this analysis focuses on the use of extrajudicial sanctions, adult transfers and the decreased emphasis on due process rights in the YCJA. The analysis shows that the YCJA potentially embodies a much more punitive model of youth justice in Canada, evidenced by its focus on the protection of society. Two of the major deficiencies of both acts are that they lack clarity in their respective Declarations of Principle due to a mixed model of justice and the insufficient use (probable in the case of the YCJA) of informal court measures. Lastly, this analysis uncovers that aside from the increased potential punitiveness of the YCJA, there is very little substantive difference between the YOA and YCJA. Thus, the YCJA is likely to suffer from the same deficiencies as the YOA.