Parental Involvement in Youth Court

Abstract

Parental involvement has been a cornerstone of Canadian youth justice legislation and has been given greater importance under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (2003). Given the importance of parental involvement, one would expect that parental attendance and participation in court hearings would have some influence on the outcome of youth court cases. This study explores parental involvement in youth court proceedings at bail and sentencing hearings. The findings suggest that the majority of parents attended court hearings, and the courts heard that many parents were involved in their child's life, but that this information did not relate to the outcome of the hearing, except in relation to supervision and living arrangements at bail hearings. There is also a suggestion from the qualitative comments made at hearings that judicial decision makers did take into account parental support in determining the outcome of a case, but the number of cases where parental support was discussed in court was insignificant. The importance of these findings will be discussed in relation to the expanded scope of the parental role under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.