The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA)

We are expected to vote, to respect other people's rights, to respect their heritage, to respect their religion, to respect their culture and of course to obey the laws and regulations of Canada. The YCJA is there to give youth “a second chance” because their main purpose is to reintegrate and rehabilitate youth back into society. However, this doesn't mean that youth do not get punished for their crime. They do get punished by either being given a sentence or some other consequence appropriate for their crime. The YCJA is also there to protect a youth's identity and most of the times protect them from an adult

The Juvenile Delinquents Act brought some positive impacts on many young people who went through the juvenile justice system. However, many flaws appeared in this Act after a period of time. "Under the JDA, there were a number of differences in provincial prohibitions, variations in maximum age limits, and a wide range of financial commitment" (Covell & Howe, 1996, p.346). The juvenile offender under this law, which built a level of discretionary regime, had few rights with regards to the welfare. In addition, according to Makarenko, there was another limit of this act – the law did not charge against children by defining different circumstances, instead, it charged children with delinquency. The law offered judges with a great deal of rights in sentencing juvenile delinquents (2007, p.2).

We believe that YCJA is fair. The law is fair and equitable in the light of fact that some of the adolescent who have a crime might not know what they are doing but will get a fair sentence and punishment. Having these laws will help the teenagers to not do the same crime again because they may need to pay restitution or do a community service. As years pass by, we are seeing that there fewer cases of youth breaking laws and they are given a second chance to reintegrate. In this way, the youth is given a chance to learn from his/her previous mistakes. The YCJA also provides fair consequences and fair

Sentencing youth offenders has a different criterion then sentencing an adult as the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) has a set of principles and guidelines, which judges must follow. Sentencing is a process where a youth is either found guilty or has pleaded guilty and a judge will decide on an appropriate consequence (Justice Education Society, 2017). The process ensures youth are held accountable for their actions, focusing on a rehabilitative, or reintegrated approach. There are many ways a youth offender can be sentenced. Section 42(2) of the YCJA defines and explains sentencing options for youth offenders.

In Canada when a young person gets in trouble with the law, the punishment given will be in accordance with the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The Youth Criminal Justice Act was created in 2003. The main objective of this legislation is to hold youth accountable for their actions through the promotion of “rehabilitation” and “reintegration” (Youth Criminal Justice Act, 2002, S.3a(ii)). Within the Canadian court system, there is a youth court for individuals who get in trouble with the law while they are still under the age of 18 years. In Calgary, Alberta the youth courtrooms are located in the Calgary Courts Center building, which is located at 601 5th Street SW. I attended youth court on Wednesday, October 26, 2016 and Monday, October 31th. This paper will shed light on the atmosphere of the youth courtroom, analyze how the criminal justice professionals are acting within the courtroom, and discuss certain cases that went through the youth courts.

In Spring 2009, three offenders, all in grade eleven , set two houses is Sherwood park on fire. The youth criminal justice Act (YCJA) provided opportunities for them to reintegrate and rehabilitate, instead of throwing them in jail. YCJA covers kids between the ages twelve to seventeen years old. It 's purpose is to handle youth offenders more differently than adults because of their undeveloped minds. The YCJA was released back in 2003. By protecting the rights and providing Youth Canadians the support they need, the YCJA benefits the offenders in a positive way. The act gentrust the youth a second chance to make sure they don 't reoffend by rehabilitating and reintegrating them. Also youth over the age 14 years can get an adult sentence if necessary. Therefore, the YCJA is an effective law because it supports everyone; youth will acquire the help they need and Public Safety is insured.

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) is the principal federal program through which the federal government sets standards for juvenile justice systems at the state and local levels. It provides direct funding for states, research, training, and technical assistance, and evaluation. The JJDPA was originally enacted in 1974 and even though the JJDPA has been revised several times over the past 30 years, its basic composition has remained the same. Since the act was passed in 1974, the JJDPA focused solitary on preventing juvenile delinquency and on rehabilitating juvenile offenders.

Youth crime is a growing epidemic that affects most teenagers at one point in their life. There is no question in society to whether or not youths are committing crimes. It has been shown that since 1986 to 1998 violent crime committed by youth jumped approximately 120% (CITE). The most controversial debate in Canadian history would have to be about the Young Offenders Act (YOA). In 1982, Parliament passed the Young Offenders Act (YOA). Effective since 1984, the Young Offenders Act replaced the most recent version of the Juvenile Delinquents Act (JDA). The Young Offenders Act’s purpose was to shift from a social welfare approach to making youth take responsibility for their actions. It also addressed concerns that the paternalistic

The overwhelming majority of juveniles are involved in impulsive or risky, even delinquent behaviors during their teenage years. However, the majority go on to become very productive citizens who do not commit crimes. In order for this to continue the government established the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) which gives young offenders a chance to better themselves, and. By doing so, the YCJA helps teach youth that their actions are unacceptable and the punishments imposed are lesser then an adult. Through the analysis of their unacceptable actions, lesser punishments and a better future, it is clear that YCJA is highly effective at giving youth a better chance in society.

The YCJA was created with two main goals in mind the first being “For the relatively small number of youth found guilty of the most serious violent offences, the Act facilitates the process for imposing a more severe, adult sentence. [The second is] for the vast majority of young offenders who commit less serious offences, the YCJA is intended to reduce Canada's reliance on the use of courts

This outline will be stating how the youths in the movie Sleepers should have been dealt differently for convicting the following crimes, first crime is Bodily harm, second crime is Theft over $5,000, and the third one is Mischief over $5,000 instead of going straight to jail for their crimes. This outline will be stating how the youth should have be dealt with using the restorative justice system or the retributive system of justice under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). I believe that the youths in the movie should have been dealt with under the YCJA and should have not gone to jail for such a long time.

Criminal Law is the system of law concerned with the punishment of offenders and sentencing of juvenile offenders is an integral aspect of Criminal Law. (Criminal Code Act 1899 (QLD)). Juvenile offender refers to children aged 10-16 years in Queensland and 10-17 years in all other Australian Jurisdictions. There are two essential Acts involved with Juvenile offenders these include. Juvenile Justice Act 1992 (QLD) and Youth Justice Act 1992 (QLD).

“The juvenile justice system was first created in the late 1800s to reform United States policies on how to handle youth offenders. Since that time, a number of reforms - aimed at both protecting the "due process of law" rights of youth, and creating an aversion toward jail among the young - have made the juvenile justice system more comparable to the adult system, which is a shift from the United States’ original intent (2008,Lawyer Shop.com).” The

Firstly, some people believes that the youth crime still increases in recent years. (The Australian 2008) However, there is a little evidence show that a decline when we look at the government statistics. Figure A illustrates that the juvenile and the adult offenders from 1996-97 to 2006-07.

By 2003 Canada had created the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) to appropriately respond to delinquent youths. By creating this their goal is to: reintegrate and rehabilitate, be fair and proportionate accountability that is consistent with the greater dependency of young persons and their reduced level of maturity, make sure youth is being treated fairly and their rights are protected among a variety of other tasks (Government of Canada, 2016). As a society, we are always observing for factors to explain these behaviors to reduce anomie. Theorist