Youth Criminal Justice Act (S.C. 2002, c. 1)

Marginal note:Conditions to be included in custody and supervision order

• 97. (1) Every youth sentence imposed under paragraph 42(2)(n) shall contain the following conditions, namely, that the young person, while serving the portion of the youth sentence under supervision in the community,

  • (a) keep the peace and be of good behaviour;

  • (b) report to the provincial director and then be under the supervision of the provincial director;

  • (c) inform the provincial director immediately on being arrested or questioned by the police;

  • (d) report to the police, or any named individual, as instructed by the provincial director;

  • (e) advise the provincial director of the young person’s address of residence and report immediately to the provincial director any change

    • (i) in that address,

    • (ii) in the young person’s normal occupation, including employment, vocational or educational training and volunteer work,

    • (iii) in the young person’s family or financial situation, and

    • (iv) that may reasonably be expected to affect the young person’s ability to comply with the conditions of the sentence; and

  • (f) not own, possess or have the control of any weapon, ammunition, prohibited ammunition, prohibited device or explosive substance, except as authorized in writing by the provincial director for the purposes of the young person participating in a program specified in the authorization.

• Marginal note:Other conditions

  (2) The provincial director may set additional conditions that support and address the needs of the young person, promote the reintegration of the young person into the community and offer adequate protection to the public from the risk that the young person might otherwise present. The provincial director shall, in setting the conditions, take into account the needs of the young person, the most effective programs for the young person in order to maximize his or her chances for reintegration into the community, the nature of the offence and the ability of the young person to comply with the conditions.

• Marginal note:Communication of conditions

  (3) The provincial director shall

  • (a) cause the conditions to be read by or to the young person bound by them;

  • (b) explain or cause to be explained to the young person the purpose and effect of the conditions, and confirm that the young person understands them; and

  • (c) cause a copy of the conditions to be given to the young person, and to a parent of the young person.

• Marginal note:Provisions to apply

  (4) Subsections 56(3) (endorsement of order by young person) and (4) (validity of order) apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, in respect of conditions under this section.

Marginal note:Application for continuation of custody

• 98. (1) Within a reasonable time before the expiry of the custodial portion of a young person’s youth sentence, the Attorney General or the provincial director may apply to the youth justice court for an order that the young person remain in custody for a period not exceeding the remainder of the youth sentence.

• Marginal note:Continuation of custody

  (2) If the hearing for an application under subsection (1) cannot be completed before the expiry of the custodial portion of the youth sentence, the court may order that the young person remain in custody pending the determination of the application if the court is satisfied that the application was made in a reasonable time, having regard to all the circumstances, and that there are compelling reasons for keeping the young person in custody.

• Marginal note:Decision

  (3) The youth justice court may, after giving both parties and a parent of the young person an opportunity to be heard, order that a young person remain in custody for a period not exceeding the remainder of the youth sentence, if it is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that

  • (a) the young person is likely to commit a serious violent offence before the expiry of the youth sentence he or she is then serving; and

  • (b) the conditions that would be imposed on the young person if he or she were to serve a portion of the youth sentence in the community would not be adequate to prevent the commission of the offence.

• Marginal note:Factors

  (4) For the purpose of determining an application under subsection (1), the youth justice court shall take into consideration any factor that is relevant to the case of the young person, including

  • (a) evidence of a pattern of persistent violent behaviour and, in particular,

    • (i) the number of offences committed by the young person that caused physical or psychological harm to any other person,

    • (ii) the young person’s difficulties in controlling violent impulses to the point of endangering the safety of any other person,

    • (iii) the use of weapons in the commission of any offence,

    • (iv) explicit threats of violence,

    • (v) behaviour of a brutal nature associated with the commission of any offence, and

    • (vi) a substantial degree of indifference on the part of the young person as to the reasonably foreseeable consequences, to other persons, of the young person’s behaviour;

  • (b) psychiatric or psychological evidence that a physical or mental illness or disorder of the young person is of such a nature that the young person is likely to commit, before the expiry of the youth sentence the young person is then serving, a serious violent offence;

  • (c) reliable information that satisfies the youth justice court that the young person is planning to commit, before the expiry of the youth sentence the young person is then serving, a serious violent offence;

  • (d) the availability of supervision programs in the community that would offer adequate protection to the public from the risk that the young person might otherwise present until the expiry of the youth sentence the young person is then serving;

  • (e) whether the young person is more likely to reoffend if he or she serves his or her youth sentence entirely in custody without the benefits of serving a portion of the youth sentence in the community under supervision; and

  • (f) evidence of a pattern of committing violent offences while he or she was serving a portion of a youth sentence in the community under supervision.

Marginal note:Report

• 99. (1) For the purpose of determining an application under section 98 (application for continuation of custody), the youth justice court shall require the provincial director to cause to be prepared, and to submit to the youth justice court, a report setting out any information of which the provincial director is aware with respect to the factors set out in subsection 98(4) that may be of assistance to the court.

• Marginal note:Written or oral report

  (2) A report referred to in subsection (1) shall be in writing unless it cannot reasonably be committed to writing, in which case it may, with leave of the youth justice court, be submitted orally in court.

• Marginal note:Provisions apply

  (3) Subsections 40(4) to (10) (procedures respecting pre-sentence reports) apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, in respect of a report referred to in subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Notice of hearing

  (4) When an application is made under section 98 (application for continuation of custody) in respect of a young person, the provincial director shall cause to be given, to the young person and to a parent of the young person, at least five clear days notice of the hearing in writing.

• Marginal note:Statement of right to counsel

  (5) Any notice given to a parent under subsection (4) shall include a statement that the young person has the right to be represented by counsel.

• Marginal note:Service of notice

  (6) A notice under subsection (4) may be served personally or may be sent by confirmed delivery service.

• Marginal note:When notice not given

  (7) When notice under subsection (4) is not given in accordance with this section, the youth justice court may

  • (a) adjourn the hearing and order that the notice be given in any manner and to any person that it directs; or

  • (b) dispense with the giving of the notice if, in the opinion of the youth justice court, having regard to the circumstances, the giving of the notice may be dispensed with.

Marginal note:Reasons

100. When a youth justice court makes an order under subsection 98(3) (decision for continued custody), it shall state its reasons for the order in the record of the case and shall provide, or cause to be provided, to the young person in respect of whom the order was made, the counsel and a parent of the young person, the Attorney General and the provincial director

• (a) a copy of the order; and

• (b) on request, a transcript or copy of the reasons for the order.

Marginal note:Review of youth justice court decision

• 101. (1) An order made under subsection 98(3) (decision for continued custody) in respect of a young person, or the refusal to make such an order, shall, on application of the young person, the young person’s counsel, the Attorney General or the provincial director made within thirty days after the decision of the youth justice court, be reviewed by the court of appeal, and that court may, in its discretion, confirm or reverse the decision of the youth justice court.

• Marginal note:Extension of time to make application

  (2) The court of appeal may, at any time, extend the time within which an application under subsection (1) may be made.

• Marginal note:Notice of application

  (3) A person who proposes to apply for a review under subsection (1) shall give notice of the application in the manner and within the period of time that may be directed by rules of court.

Marginal note:Breach of conditions

• 102. (1) If the provincial director has reasonable grounds to believe that a young person has breached or is about to breach a condition to which he or she is subject under section 97 (conditions to be included in custody and supervision orders), the provincial director may, in writing,

  • (a) permit the young person to continue to serve a portion of his or her youth sentence in the community, on the same or different conditions; or

  • (b) if satisfied that the breach is a serious one that increases the risk to public safety, order that the young person be remanded to any youth custody facility that the provincial director considers appropriate until a review is conducted.

• Marginal note:Provisions apply

  (2) Sections 107 (apprehension) and 108 (review by provincial director) apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, to an order under paragraph (1)(b).

Marginal note:Review by youth justice court

• 103. (1) When the case of a young person is referred to the youth justice court under section 108 (review by provincial director), the provincial director shall, without delay, cause the young person to be brought before the youth justice court, and the youth justice court shall, after giving the young person an opportunity to be heard,

  • (a) if the court is not satisfied on reasonable grounds that the young person has breached or was about to breach one of the conditions under which he or she was being supervised in the community, order that the young person continue to serve a portion of his or her youth sentence in the community, on the same or different conditions; or

  • (b) if the court is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the young person has breached or was about to breach one of the conditions under which he or she was being supervised in the community, make an order under subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Order

  (2) On completion of a review under subsection (1), the youth justice court

  • (a) shall order that the young person continue to serve the remainder of the youth sentence the young person is then serving in the community, and when the court does so, the court may vary the existing conditions or impose new conditions; or

  • (b) shall, despite paragraph 42(2)(n) (custody and supervision order), order that the young person remain in custody for a period that does not exceed the remainder of the youth sentence the young person is then serving, if the youth justice court is satisfied that the breach of the conditions was serious.

• Marginal note:Provisions apply

  (3) Subsections 109(4) to (8) apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, in respect of a review under this section.