YCJA Basics
What does YCJA stand for?
What is the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
What is an extrajudicial measure?
A consequence outside of court, like a warning or community program.
Name one legal right a youth has when arrested.
The right to remain silent.
What type of court do most youth cases go to?
Youth Justice Court.
This word means that a jury is kept away from the public during a trial so they aren't influenced by outside information.
What is sequestered?
The YCJA applies to young people between these ages.
What are youth aged 12-17?
When can a youth receive an adult sentence?
When the crime is serious enough to be tried as an adult.
Who must police contact when a youth is arrested?
The youths parents.
Who decides the sentence in Youth Court?
A judge (no jury for most youth cases).
This Indigenous restorative justice process brings together the offender, victim, and community to decide a fair and healing consequence.
What is the main purpose of the YCJA?
What is Reintegrate and Rehabilitate youth back into society.
What are two youth committees that deal with different groups of people? Who are they and who do they deal with?
1. The John Howard Society deals with youth who have committed crimes.
2. Elizabeth Fry Society deals with women/women youth who have committed crimes.
This responsibility means Canadians must learn and follow the rules that govern society, even if they say they were never taught them.
What is knowing the law?
What is a hung jury?
A jury that cannot come to a unanimous decision.
This law’s main goals are to prevent crime, rehabilitate youth, and help them reintegrate into society.
What is the YCJA?
True or False: The YCJA focuses more on punishment than help.
False — it focuses on preventing crime and helping youth make better choices.
What is a situation for a youth to keep their youth record forever (not if they are tried as adults.)
If the youth commits a crime before their youth record is closed and if they have turned 18.
True or False: Youth names can always be published in the news.
False — youth identities are almost always protected.
This legal team works on behalf of the Crown to prove that the accused committed the crime.
What is the prosecution
This word describes the most serious category of crimes under Canadian law, such as murder or aggravated assault.
What is an indictable offence?
What must police consider before charging a youth under the YCJA?
They must consider the circumstances, the attitude of the youth, the seriousness of the offence, and the history of the youth.
This federal bill, passed in 2012, made the Youth Criminal Justice Act stricter by focusing more on public safety and accountability for young offenders.
What is Bill C-10 (the Safe Streets and Communities Act)?
Why are youth given extra legal protections compared to adults?
Because youth are still developing and may not understand the legal process.
What is a jury. How many members are there? Do they have to attend jury duty?
A jury is a group of citizens chosen to listen to a court case and decide whether the person accused of a crime is guilty or not guilty.
In Canada, a criminal jury has 12 members.
They all must agree on the verdict — this is called a unanimous decision.
Yes they MUST attend. Unless it will cause them hardship.
We now have the YCJA... What two systems did we have in place before the YCJA?