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53 Crim. L.Q. 14 (2007-2008)
The Youth Criminal Justice Act: Can the Supreme Court of Canada Balance the Competing and Conflicting Models of Youth Justice

handle is hein.journals/clwqrty53 and id is 16 raw text is: The Youth Criminal Justice Act: Can the Supreme Court of Canada Balance the Competing and Conflicting Models of Youth Justice? Raymond R. Corrado,* Karla Gronsdahl** and David MacAlister*** 1. Introduction The implementation of the Youth Criminal Justice Act1 marks another important milestone in redefining Canada's approach to addressing youth crime. On April 1, 2003, the YCJA came into force with very little public fanfare, not unlike its predecessor, the Young Offenders Act.2 The YCJA is already controversial theoretically and politically, in addition to attracting some dissension in the public and media domain. Initially, major objections to the YCJA came from Quebec's provincial government as well as some scholars opposed to the crime control aspects of the legislation, as reflected in the provisions for presumptive adult sentences for offenders as young as 14 years who are found guilty of specified serious violent offences. More specifically, the province of Quebec believed the new law was unnecessary and an attempt to impose a youth criminal justice system that conflicts with Quebec's educative and rehabilitative approach to young offenders.3 Most notably, the Quebec Court of Appeal emphasized its concerns that certain provisions of the Act pertaining to presumptive adult sentences violate a young person's rights * Professor, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University. ** Justice Institute of British Columbia. *** Assistant Professor, School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University. 1. Youth Criminal Justice Act, S.C. 2002, c. 1 (hereafter YCJA). 2. Young Offenders Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. Y-1 (hereafter YOA). 3. J. Trepanier, What Did Quebec Not Want? Opposition to the Adoption of the Youth Criminal Justice Act in Quebec (2004), 46 Can. J. Criminology & Criminal Justice 273.

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