Youth Criminal Justice Act
Running Head: YCJA Act
Policy Analysis: Youth Criminal Justice Act
Issues and Perspectives in Social Welfare
Abstract The Youth Criminal Justice Act is a federal legislation that deals with deviance among youth. This policy is the third legislation to come into existence that separate criminal laws and courts for youth and adults. The purpose of this policy is to protect the public, issue purposeful consequences to the offenders, meet the needs of the victims, and distinguish between youth and adult justice. The Youth Criminal Justice Act is still fairly new, as a result its success still has yet to be precisely determined.
Introduction Crime and deviance is an avoidable trait that will always exist within society. As a result, …show more content…
As a result of this, sentences varied and were inconsistent (Endres, 2004). Furthermore, traditional court room rules were not being abided by. Lawyers were often discouraged from representing their young clients (Campbell, 2005). Also, many rulings were influenced by parens patriae , where as the government would assume legal guardianship over young offenders who they deemed as being in need of protection or who did not have any parents (Campbell, 2005). The Juvenile Delinquents Act was critiqued as being too lenient on some youth and inconsistent with sentences within provinces and across Canada (Endres, 2004). This therefore caused it to lack the due process guarantee. Furthermore, the Act also played a role in creating tensions surrounding social and child welfare issues and legal principles (Endres, 2004). Also, the way in which delinquency was defined was far too broad, therefore causing some serious crimes to be down played and less serious offences to be …show more content…
This legislation does recognize their right to due process; however, this recognition is weaker in comparison to the Young Offenders Act (Endres, 2004). Another problem the Youth Criminal Justice Act intended to address was the non- existent philosophy within youth justice. This new legislation is extremely detailed and has a Declaration of Principle that clarifies a number of issues that had previously been blurred. Furthermore, the increased detail of this Act has created much more consistency in sentencing throughout courts in Canada. At this point the Youth Criminal Justice Act has many components to it and has only been in place for four years. As a result it is unclear as to whether or not there are any unintended or latent consequences from its implementation. As of right now, the Act appears to be a success; however the outcome of the future will provide a more definite answer to its
Policy Analysis: Youth Criminal Justice Act
Issues and Perspectives in Social Welfare
Abstract The Youth Criminal Justice Act is a federal legislation that deals with deviance among youth. This policy is the third legislation to come into existence that separate criminal laws and courts for youth and adults. The purpose of this policy is to protect the public, issue purposeful consequences to the offenders, meet the needs of the victims, and distinguish between youth and adult justice. The Youth Criminal Justice Act is still fairly new, as a result its success still has yet to be precisely determined.
Introduction Crime and deviance is an avoidable trait that will always exist within society. As a result, …show more content…
As a result of this, sentences varied and were inconsistent (Endres, 2004). Furthermore, traditional court room rules were not being abided by. Lawyers were often discouraged from representing their young clients (Campbell, 2005). Also, many rulings were influenced by parens patriae , where as the government would assume legal guardianship over young offenders who they deemed as being in need of protection or who did not have any parents (Campbell, 2005). The Juvenile Delinquents Act was critiqued as being too lenient on some youth and inconsistent with sentences within provinces and across Canada (Endres, 2004). This therefore caused it to lack the due process guarantee. Furthermore, the Act also played a role in creating tensions surrounding social and child welfare issues and legal principles (Endres, 2004). Also, the way in which delinquency was defined was far too broad, therefore causing some serious crimes to be down played and less serious offences to be …show more content…
This legislation does recognize their right to due process; however, this recognition is weaker in comparison to the Young Offenders Act (Endres, 2004). Another problem the Youth Criminal Justice Act intended to address was the non- existent philosophy within youth justice. This new legislation is extremely detailed and has a Declaration of Principle that clarifies a number of issues that had previously been blurred. Furthermore, the increased detail of this Act has created much more consistency in sentencing throughout courts in Canada. At this point the Youth Criminal Justice Act has many components to it and has only been in place for four years. As a result it is unclear as to whether or not there are any unintended or latent consequences from its implementation. As of right now, the Act appears to be a success; however the outcome of the future will provide a more definite answer to its