The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) is a Canadian law that was established in 2003, replacing the Young Offenders Act. The YCJA was created with the intention of promoting rehabilitation and reintegration of young offenders, as well as ensuring that they are held accountable for their actions. The act recognizes that youth are still developing and should be treated differently than adult offenders. In this essay, we will explore the key aspects of the YCJA and how it has affected the Canadian justice system.
One of the primary goals of the YCJA is to provide young offenders with opportunities to reintegrate into society. This is achieved through measures such as community service and restorative justice. According to the Canadian Department of Justice, the YCJA "encourages the use of extrajudicial measures, such as warnings or referrals to community programs, to address less serious offences." This approach has been successful in reducing the number of young people who end up in the criminal justice system. A study conducted by the Canadian government found that "the rate of youth aged 12 to 17 accused of a crime decreased by 41% between 2003 and 2018."
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The act emphasizes the importance of addressing the underlying causes of a young person's criminal behavior. This may involve counseling, therapy, or educational programs. According to a report by the Canadian Bar Association, "the YCJA is designed to ensure that youth receive appropriate support and guidance to help them move beyond their offending behavior and become law-abiding members of society." This approach has been successful in reducing recidivism rates among young offenders. A study by the Canadian government found that "the rate of youth reoffending within two years of being released from custody has declined by 12% between 2003 and
The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) aims to help young offenders to have a new and positive outlook. It’s goal is to rehabilitate and reintegrate youth back into society. In the novel Changing Jareth by Elizabeth Wennick the young offender Richard Peterson should be punished for the crime of selling marijuana. Richard Peterson is a 14 year old boy that is a character in the book Changing Jareth. Richard is a first time offender who is selling marijuana to some students at his school.
IS THE YOUTH CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT TOO LENIENT ON YOUTHS? The Youth Criminal Justice Act is the federal legislation that replaced the young offenders act in 2003. The Department of Justice defines the act by stating: It is the law that governs the Canadian youth justice systems. It applies to youth who are at least 12 years old but under the age of 18, who are alleged to have committed criminal offences. The three main topics in which I believe to be most crucial that relates to the Youth Criminal Justice Act include, how much time a youth must serve based on the degree of the crime especially when the crime committed was well planned out, the severity of the ruling based on a re-offence,
The YCJA has specific guidelines and boundaries on the sentencing of young offenders compared to the adult sentencing requirements in the Criminal Code of Canada, which deals strictly with people age 18 up. When a young person is held in custody under a youth sentence under the YCJA, the court director can, if persuaded that the needs of the individual and the community would be better met by doing so, make a suggestion to the youth justice court that the young person be released from custody and placed under probation supervision. If the crime is extreme enough, the offender may face an adult sentence, which includes, adult court, adult jail time, and adult charges. If Trevor were charged under the Criminal code of canada, for ages 18 and up, the maximum jail time Trevor could possibly face is a life sentence with a 25-year parole exclusive period. There is no death penalty in Canada.
There are indication that most criminals have a juvenile records in the US, indicating that crime manifests from a tender age. Therefore, to reverse the incidence of crime, it follows that the best strategy is to reduce the criminal orientation in the juvenile offenders as opposed to hardening them and preparing them for criminal careers. The case of the Crossroads Juvenile Center demonstrates the willingness of the juvenile justice systems to make these changes on the children. References Day, S. (2014). Runaway Man: A Journey Back to Hope.
The Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention and Protection Act (JJDPA) was established in 1974 and was the first federal law that dealt comprehensively with juvenile delinquency to improve the juvenile justice system and support state and local efforts at delinquency prevention. This paper will assess the JJDPA and summarize its purpose and implementation and enforcement. Next, there will be a discussion of the historical context of the policy; followed by a focus of the latent consequences. Finally there will be a vignette as to how this Act has affected a person or family as well as personal reflection toward the policy.
A huge way in which the YCJA promotes equity is through its main focus on rehabilitation rather than just the punishment of the child. A study from Justice Canada found that the YCJA’s focus on rehabilitation has led to a significant drop in the rate of re-offenses among youth offenders proving that through rehabilitation, the youth are more likely not to re-offend, resulting in not returning back to the justice system (Justice Canada). To add onto that, the YCJA has created specialized courts for youth to better meet the unique needs of the
In response to the concerns of having one of the highest youth incarceration rates in the world in the late 1990s, Canada introduced the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) to counteract the high incarceration rates and to put an emphasis on extra-judicial measures (EJMs) to deter youth from the criminal justice system. While the YCJA has shown success, and to have strike a balance that the Act’s predecessors were lacking, it still has underlying issues. Youth whom are most vulnerable, such as those with mental illness, homeless, abused or in poverty are most susceptible to getting involved in the youth criminal system. According to the More Less Court report by the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate, the province of New Brunswick has been
People have always considered children kind, generous, caring, and playful, but never crminal offenders. The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), as Canadians know today, as we know it today, was only sometimes the YCJA. It all started as the Jjuvenile Ddelinquent Aact (1908-1984), which then evolved into the Yyoung Ooffender's Aact (1984-2003) and finally evolved into the YCJAyouth criminal justice act (2003-present). The YCJAS's prmary goal is to protect the community by holding Canadian youth accountable, rehabilitating and reintegrating youths back into society, and preventing crime amongst youth. However, is the YCJA effectively dealing with youth crime in Canada?
Retrieved from https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/508315/COCE_113782_01_Dec_14.pdf. Cunneen, C., White, R., & Richards, K. (2013). Juvenile justice: youth and crime in australia. Retrieved from EBook Central.
A study done by Criminal justice inspection Northern Ireland found the rate of recidivism went down when young offenders were diverted into restorative justice furthermore study concludes that people were often quite pleased with the outcome of the restorative justice(Restorative Justice Council,
Today we are going to be talking about the Youth Criminal Justice Act aka (YCJA) and all of its pros and cons. In social we are deciding about the YCJA and if it is fair and equitable. Pros of the YCJA are that it brings a line to the criminal justice system and it helps youth not get a criminal record. Cons of the YCJA is that it's ineffective and doesn't really stop youth from committing the crime and it makes youth think that they have a free pass or a slap on the wrist. What I think about the YCJA, that it’s a waste of money on taxpayers, government and that it is ineffective because youth still commit the same crimes over and over again.
The YCJA, Youth Criminal Justice Act is a federal law was proposed in 2002 and came into effect on April 1 in 2003. The main purpose of this act is to separate youth offenders aging from 12 to 17 from the adults and immaculately protect the right of youth offenders to the maximum and provide rehabilitation and reintegration for them, because the rights of youth offender outweigh the safety of the public. In addition, a particularly successful policy is the rehabilitation and reintegration of youth offenders, this policy is clearly illustrated by the Medicine Hat case. An essential policy of the YCJA is the rehabilitation and the reintegration of youth offenders, this policy provides assistance for youth offenders to realize the crucial mistake they’ve made in the
There are differences between a juvenile court and criminal court in the United States. The focus of the juvenile justice system is on rehabilitation, in hope of deterring the minor away from a life of crime so they will not commit a crime again as an adult. In contrast, the criminal justice system focuses on the punishment and often bases the sentencing outcome on the criminal history of the youth. In a study conducted, Butler (2011) showed that the participants’ experience with adult jails and prisons show that those facilities may instill fear but are otherwise emotionally—and often physically—dangerous for youth. Many of the adult prisoners, who were minors when they enter the adult institution, felt they were forced to “grow
Within the urban communities, negative perceptions are magnified. Adolescents are more prone to be a product of their environment, especially those whose parents are incarcerated. Because of this trend adolescents are being incarcerated at an alarming rate and sentenced to adult facilities. Lambie & Randall (2013) states, the United States have imposed harsher penalties on serious young offenders, and have consequently increased rates of incarcerated youth and made it easier for youth to be treated and incarcerated as adults within the justice
On somewhat positive side, New generations are more implicated in minor offenses such as Cannabis possessions, Common Assault, Theft, and mischief. It also proclaims that young adults who were accused in 2014 were the ages of 18 to 24 years old. Important to realize, that the The highest rate of charge was for violence by 51% and second highest rate of charge was for property which came in by 38 %. In my opinion, when you take a look at The YCJA it clarifies that there is always a reason to why a child acts a certain way; wheter its from being abused to mental health problems; hence, the purpose of this act is to observe and understand the root of the