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

Marginal note:Order requiring attendance of parent

• 27 (1) 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 interests of the young person, by order in writing require the parent to attend at any stage of the proceedings.

• Marginal note:No order in ticket proceedings

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in proceedings commenced by filing a ticket under the Contraventions Act.

• Marginal note:Service of order

  (3) A copy of the order shall be served by a peace officer or by a person designated by a youth justice court by delivering it personally to the parent to whom it is directed, unless the youth justice court authorizes service by confirmed delivery service.

• Marginal note:Failure to attend

  (4) A parent who is ordered to attend a youth justice court under subsection (1) and who fails without reasonable excuse, the proof of which lies on the parent, to comply with the order

  • (a) is guilty of contempt of court;

  • (b) may be dealt with summarily by the court; and

  • (c) is liable to the punishment provided for in the Criminal Code for a summary conviction offence.

• Marginal note:Warrant to arrest parent

  (5) If a parent who is ordered to attend a youth justice court under subsection (1) does not attend when required by the order or fails to remain in attendance as required and it is proved that a copy of the order was served on the parent, a youth justice court may issue a warrant to compel the attendance of the parent.

Detention and Release

Marginal note:Application of Part XVI of Criminal Code

28 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 detention and release of young persons under this Act.

Marginal note:Substitute for social measures prohibited

28.1 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 release order, as a substitute for appropriate child protection, mental health or other social measures.

Marginal note:Release order with conditions

• 29 (1) 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

  • (a) the condition is necessary to ensure the young person’s attendance in court or for the protection or safety of the public, including any victim of or witness to the offence;

  • (b) the condition is reasonable having regard to the circumstances of the offending behaviour; and

  • (c) the young person will reasonably be able to comply with the condition.

• Marginal note:Justification for detention in custody

  (2) A youth justice court judge or a justice may order that a young person be detained in custody only if

  • (a) the young person has been charged with

    • (i) a serious offence, or

    • (ii) an offence other than a serious offence, if they have a history that indicates a pattern of either outstanding charges or findings of guilt;

  • (b) the judge or justice is satisfied, on a balance of probabilities,

    • (i) that there is a substantial likelihood that, before being dealt with according to law, the young person will not appear in court when required by law to do so,

    • (ii) that detention is necessary for the protection or safety of the public, including any victim of or witness to the offence, having regard to all the circumstances, including a substantial likelihood that the young person will, if released from custody, commit a serious offence, or

    • (iii) in the case where the young person has been charged with a serious offence and detention is not justified under subparagraph (i) or (ii), that there are exceptional circumstances that warrant detention and that detention is necessary to maintain confidence in the administration of justice, having regard to the principles set out in section 3 and to all the circumstances, including

      • (A) the apparent strength of the prosecution’s case,

      • (B) the gravity of the offence,

      • (C) the circumstances surrounding the commission of the offence, including whether a firearm was used, and

      • (D) the fact that the young person is liable, on being found guilty, for a potentially lengthy custodial sentence; and

  • (c) the judge or justice is satisfied, on a balance of probabilities, that no condition or combination of conditions of release would, depending on the justification on which the judge or justice relies under paragraph (b),

    • (i) reduce, to a level below substantial, the likelihood that the young person would not appear in court when required by law to do so,

    • (ii) offer adequate protection to the public from the risk that the young person might otherwise present, or

    • (iii) maintain confidence in the administration of justice.

• Marginal note:Onus

  (3) The onus of satisfying the youth justice court judge or the justice as to the matters referred to in subsection (2) is on the Attorney General.

Marginal note:Designated place of temporary detention

• 30 (1) 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 temporary detention that may be designated by the lieutenant governor in council of the province or his or her delegate or in a place within a class of places so designated.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) A young person who is detained in a place of temporary detention under subsection (1) may, in the course of being transferred from that place to the court or from the court to that place, be held under the supervision and control of a peace officer.

• Marginal note:Detention separate from adults

  (3) A young person referred to in subsection (1) shall be held separate and apart from any adult who is detained or held in custody unless a youth justice court judge or a justice is satisfied that, having regard to the best interests of the young person,

  • (a) the young person cannot, having regard to his or her own safety or the safety of others, be detained in a place of detention for young persons; or

  • (b) no place of detention for young persons is available within a reasonable distance.

• Marginal note:Transfer to adult facility

  (4) When a young person is detained under subsection (1), the youth justice court may, on application of the provincial director made at any time after the young person attains the age of eighteen years, after giving the young person an opportunity to be heard, authorize the provincial director to direct, despite subsection (3), that the young person be temporarily detained in a provincial correctional facility for adults, if the court considers it to be in the best interests of the young person or in the public interest.

• Marginal note:When young person is twenty years old or older

  (5) When a young person is twenty years old or older at the time his or her temporary detention under subsection (1) begins, the young person shall, despite subsection (3), be temporarily detained in a provincial correctional facility for adults.

• Marginal note:Transfer by provincial director

  (6) A young person who is detained in custody under subsection (1) may, during the period of detention, be transferred by the provincial director from one place of temporary detention to another.

• Marginal note:Exception relating to temporary detention

  (7) Subsections (1) and (3) do not apply in respect of any temporary restraint of a young person under the supervision and control of a peace officer after arrest, but a young person who is so restrained shall be transferred to a place of temporary detention referred to in subsection (1) as soon as is practicable, and in no case later than the first reasonable opportunity after the appearance of the young person before a youth justice court judge or a justice under section 503 of the Criminal Code.

• Marginal note:Authorization of provincial authority for detention

  (8) In any province for which the lieutenant governor in council has designated a person or a group of persons whose authorization is required, either in all circumstances or in circumstances specified by the lieutenant governor in council, before a young person who has been arrested may be detained in accordance with this section, no young person shall be so detained unless the authorization is obtained.

• Marginal note:Determination by provincial authority of place of detention

  (9) In any province for which the lieutenant governor in council has designated a person or a group of persons who may determine the place where a young person who has been arrested may be detained in accordance with this section, no young person may be so detained in a place other than the one so determined.

Marginal note:Review of detention — 30-day period

30.1 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 conviction, every reference in that provision to “90 days” or “90-day” is to be read and construed as a reference to “30 days” or “30-day” respectively.

Marginal note:Placement of young person in care of responsible person

• 31 (1) 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

  • (a) the young person would, but for this subsection, be detained in custody under section 515 (judicial interim release) of the Criminal Code;

  • (b) the person is willing and able to take care of and exercise control over the young person; and

  • (c) the young person is willing to be placed in the care of that person.

• Marginal note:Inquiry as to availability of a responsible person

  (2) If a young person would, in the absence of a responsible person, be detained in custody, the youth justice court or the justice shall inquire as to the availability of a responsible person and whether the young person is willing to be placed in that person’s care.

• Marginal note:Condition of placement

  (3) A young person shall not be placed in the care of a person under subsection (1) unless

  • (a) that person undertakes in writing to take care of and to be responsible for the attendance of the young person in court when required and to comply with any other conditions that the youth justice court judge or the justice may specify; and

  • (b) the young person undertakes in writing to comply with the arrangement and to comply with any other conditions that the youth justice court judge or the justice may specify.

• Marginal note:Removing young person from care

  (4) A young person, a person in whose care a young person has been placed or any other person may, by application in writing to a youth justice court judge or a justice, apply for an order under subsection (5) if

  • (a) the person in whose care the young person has been placed is no longer willing or able to take care of or exercise control over the young person; or

  • (b) it is, for any other reason, no longer appropriate that the young person remain in the care of the person with whom he or she has been placed.

• Marginal note:Order

  (5) When a youth justice court judge or a justice is satisfied that a young person should not remain in the custody of the person in whose care he or she was placed under subsection (1), the judge or justice shall

  • (a) make an order relieving the person and the young person of the obligations undertaken under subsection (3); and

  • (b) issue a warrant for the arrest of the young person.

• Marginal note:Effect of arrest

  (6) If a young person is arrested in accordance with a warrant issued under paragraph (5)(b), the young person shall be taken before a youth justice court judge or a justice without delay and dealt with under this section and sections 28 to 30.

Appearance

Marginal note:Appearance before judge or justice

• 32 (1) 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

  • (a) cause the information or indictment to be read to the young person;

  • (b) if the young person is not represented by counsel, inform the young person of the right to retain and instruct counsel; and

  • (c) if notified under subsection 64(2) (intention to seek adult sentence) or if section 16 (status of accused uncertain) applies, inform the young person that the youth justice court might, if the young person is found guilty, order that an adult sentence be imposed.

  • (d) [Repealed, 2012, c. 1, s. 170]

• Marginal note:Waiver

  (2) A young person may waive the requirements of subsection (1) if the young person is represented by counsel and counsel advises the court that the young person has been informed of that provision.

• Marginal note:Young person not represented by counsel

  (3) When a young person is not represented by counsel, the youth justice court, before accepting a plea, shall

  • (a) satisfy itself that the young person understands the charge;

  • (b) if the young person is liable to an adult sentence, explain to the young person the consequences of being liable to an adult sentence and the procedure by which the young person may apply for an order that a youth sentence be imposed; and

  • (c) explain that the young person may plead guilty or not guilty to the charge or, if subsection 67(1) (election of court for trial — adult sentence) or (3) (election of court for trial in Nunavut — adult sentence) applies, explain that the young person may elect to be tried by a youth justice court judge without a jury and without having a preliminary inquiry, or to have a preliminary inquiry and be tried by a judge without a jury, or to have a preliminary inquiry and be tried by a court composed of a judge and jury and, in either of the latter two cases, a preliminary inquiry will only be conducted if requested by the young person or the prosecutor.

• Marginal note:If youth justice court not satisfied

  (4) If the youth justice court is not satisfied that a young person understands the charge, the court shall, unless the young person must be put to his or her election under subsection 67(1) (election of court for trial — adult sentence) or, with respect to Nunavut, subsection 67(3) (election of court for trial in Nunavut — adult sentence), enter a plea of not guilty on behalf of the young person and proceed with the trial in accordance with subsection 36(2) (young person pleads not guilty).

• Marginal note:If youth justice court not satisfied

  (5) If the youth justice court is not satisfied that a young person understands the matters set out in subsection (3), the court shall direct that the young person be represented by counsel.