Youth Criminal Justice Act
Sections and provisions with full text and the judgments that cite each one.
Section 1 — Short title
This Act may be cited as the Youth Criminal Justice Act .
Section 2 — Definitions
The definitions in this subsection apply in this Act. adult means a person who is neither a young person nor a child. ( adulte ) adult sentence , in the case of a young person who is found guilty of…
Section 3 — Policy for Canada with respect to young persons
The following principles apply in this Act: the youth criminal justice system is intended to protect the public by holding young persons accountable through measures that are proportionate to the…
Section 4 — Declaration of principles
The following principles apply in this Part in addition to the principles set out in section 3: extrajudicial measures are often the most appropriate and effective way to address youth crime;…
Section 4.1 — Certain offences — extrajudicial measures deemed adequate
Extrajudicial measures are presumed to be adequate to hold a young person accountable for a failure or refusal referred to in section 137 and for a failure referred to in section 496 of the Criminal…
Section 5 — Objectives
Extrajudicial measures should be designed to provide an effective and timely response to offending behaviour outside the bounds of judicial measures; encourage young persons to acknowledge and repair…
Section 6 — Warnings, cautions and referrals
A police officer shall, before starting judicial proceedings or taking any other measures under this Act against a young person alleged to have committed an offence, consider whether it would be…
Section 7 — Police cautions
The Attorney General, or any other minister designated by the lieutenant governor of a province, may establish a program authorizing the police to administer cautions to young persons instead of…
Section 8 — Crown cautions
The Attorney General may establish a program authorizing prosecutors to administer cautions to young persons instead of starting or continuing judicial proceedings under this Act.
Section 9 — Evidence of measures is inadmissible
Evidence that a young person has received a warning, caution or referral mentioned in section 6, 7 or 8 or that a police officer has taken no further action in respect of an offence, and evidence of…
Section 10 — Extrajudicial sanctions
An extrajudicial sanction may be used to deal with a young person alleged to have committed an offence only if the young person cannot be adequately dealt with by a warning, caution or referral…
Section 11 — Notice to parent
If a young person is dealt with by an extrajudicial sanction, the person who administers the program under which the sanction is used shall inform a parent of the young person of the sanction.
Section 12 — Victim’s right to information
If a young person is dealt with by an extrajudicial sanction, a police officer, the Attorney General, the provincial director or any organization established by a province to provide assistance to…
Section 13 — Designation of youth justice court
A youth justice court is any court that may be established or designated by or under an Act of the legislature of a province, or designated by the Governor in Council or the lieutenant governor in…
Section 14 — Exclusive jurisdiction of youth justice court
Despite any other Act of Parliament but subject to the Contraventions Act and the National Defence Act , a youth justice court has exclusive jurisdiction in respect of any offence alleged to have…
Section 15 — Contempt against youth justice court
Every youth justice court has the same power, jurisdiction and authority to deal with and impose punishment for contempt against the court as may be exercised by the superior court of criminal…
Section 16 — Status of offender uncertain
When a person is alleged to have committed an offence during a period that includes the date on which the person attains the age of eighteen years, the youth justice court has jurisdiction in respect…
Section 17 — Youth justice court may make rules
The youth justice court for a province may, subject to the approval of the lieutenant governor in council of the province, establish rules of court not inconsistent with this Act or any other Act of…
Section 18 — Youth justice committees
The Attorney General of Canada or a province or any other minister that the lieutenant governor in council of the province may designate may establish one or more committees of citizens, to be known…
Section 19 — Conferences may be convened
A youth justice court judge, the provincial director, a police officer, a justice of the peace, a prosecutor or a youth worker may convene or cause to be convened a conference for the purpose of…
Section 20 — Certain proceedings may be taken before justices
Any proceeding that may be carried out before a justice under the Criminal Code , other than a plea, a trial or an adjudication, may be carried out before a justice in respect of an offence alleged…
Section 21 — Powers of clerks
In addition to any powers conferred on a clerk of a court by the Criminal Code , a clerk of the youth justice court may exercise the powers ordinarily exercised by a clerk of a court, and, in…
Section 22 — Powers, duties and functions of provincial directors
The provincial director may authorize any person to exercise the powers or perform the duties or functions of the provincial director under this Act, in which case the powers, duties or functions are…
Section 23 — Pre-charge screening
The Attorney General may establish a program of pre-charge screening that sets out the circumstances in which the consent of the Attorney General must be obtained before a young person is charged…
Section 24 — Private prosecutions
No prosecutions may be conducted by a prosecutor other than the Attorney General without the consent of the Attorney General.
Section 24.1 — Review required
If a charge for which an appearance notice, summons or release order was issued, or an undertaking was given, is dismissed, withdrawn or stayed, or the young person is acquitted of that charge, the…
Section 25 — Right to counsel
A young person has the right to retain and instruct counsel without delay, and to exercise that right personally, at any stage of proceedings against the young person and before and during any…
Section 26 — Notice in case of arrest and detained
Subject to subsection (4), if a young person is arrested and detained in custody pending their appearance in court, a peace officer shall, as soon as possible after the young person is detained, give…
Section 27 — Order requiring attendance of parent
If a parent does not attend proceedings held before a youth justice court in respect of a young person, the court may, if in its opinion the presence of the parent is necessary or in the best…
Section 28 — Application of Part XVI of Criminal Code
Except to the extent that they are inconsistent with or excluded by this Act, the provisions of Part XVI (compelling appearance of an accused and interim release) of the Criminal Code apply to the…
Section 28.1 — Substitute for social measures prohibited
A peace officer, youth justice court judge or justice shall not detain a young person in custody, or impose a condition in respect of a young person’s release by including it in an undertaking or…
Section 29 — Release order with conditions
A youth justice court judge or a justice may impose a condition set out in subsections 515(4) to (4.2) of the Criminal Code in respect of a release order only if they are satisfied that the condition…
Section 30 — Designated place of temporary detention
Subject to subsection (7), a young person who is detained in custody in relation to any proceedings against the young person shall be detained in a safe, fair and humane manner in any place of…
Section 30.1 — Review of detention — 30-day period
For the purposes of section 525 of the Criminal Code with respect to a young person who has been charged with an offence for which they are being prosecuted in proceedings by way of summary…
Section 31 — Placement of young person in care of responsible person
A young person who has been arrested may be placed in the care of a responsible person instead of being detained in custody if a youth justice court or a justice is satisfied that the young person…
Section 32 — Appearance before judge or justice
A young person against whom an information or indictment is laid must first appear before a youth justice court judge or a justice, and the judge or justice shall cause the information or indictment…
Section 33 — Application for release from or detention in custody
If an order is made under section 515 (judicial interim release) of the Criminal Code in respect of a young person by a justice who is not a youth justice court judge, an application may, at any time…
Section 34 — Medical or psychological assessment
A youth justice court may, at any stage of proceedings against a young person, by order require that the young person be assessed by a qualified person who is required to report the results in…
Section 35 — Referral to child welfare agency
In addition to any order that it is authorized to make, a youth justice court may, at any stage of proceedings against a young person, refer the young person to a child welfare agency for assessment…
Section 36 — When young person pleads guilty
If a young person pleads guilty to an offence charged against the young person and the youth justice court is satisfied that the facts support the charge, the court shall find the young person guilty…
Section 37 — Appeals
An appeal in respect of an indictable offence or an offence that the Attorney General elects to proceed with as an indictable offence lies under this Act in accordance with Part XXI (appeals —…
Section 38 — Purpose
The purpose of sentencing under section 42 (youth sentences) is to hold a young person accountable for an offence through the imposition of just sanctions that have meaningful consequences for the…
Section 39 — Committal to custody
A youth justice court shall not commit a young person to custody under section 42 (youth sentences) unless the young person has committed a violent offence; the young person has previously been found…
Section 40 — Pre-sentence report
Before imposing sentence on a young person found guilty of an offence, a youth justice court shall, if it is required under this Act to consider a pre-sentence report before making an order or a…
Section 41 — Recommendation of conference
When a youth justice court finds a young person guilty of an offence, the court may convene or cause to be convened a conference under section 19 for recommendations to the court on an appropriate…
Section 42 — Considerations as to youth sentence
A youth justice court shall, before imposing a youth sentence, consider any recommendations submitted under section 41, any pre-sentence report, any representations made by the parties to the…
Section 43 — Additional youth sentences
Subject to subsection 42(15) (duration of youth sentences), if a young person who is subject to a custodial sentence imposed under paragraph 42(2)(n), (o), (q) or (r) that has not expired receives an…
Section 44 — Custodial portion if additional youth sentence
Subject to subsection 42(15) (duration of youth sentences) and section 46 (exception when youth sentence in respect of earlier offence), if an additional youth sentence under paragraph 42(2)(n), (o),…
Section 45 — Supervision when additional youth sentence extends the period in custody
If a young person has begun to serve a portion of a youth sentence in the community subject to conditions under paragraph 42(2)(n) or under conditional supervision under paragraph 42(2)(o), (q) or…
Section 46 — Exception when youth sentence in respect of earlier offence
The total of the custodial portions of a young person’s youth sentences shall not exceed six years calculated from the beginning of the youth sentence that is determined in accordance with section 43…