Difference between revisions of "Criminal Offences under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (2:III)"

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*b) the young person has a history indicating a pattern of offences, or  
*b) the young person has a history indicating a pattern of offences, or  
*c) the young person is alleged to have committed a serious violent offence.   
*c) the young person is alleged to have committed a serious violent offence.   
In practice, the threshold for meeting 34 (a) is broader than it appears. In R v. D.P. (6 July 2017), Vancouver 23695-2-C, 23664-1 (BC Youth Div) the Youth Division of the BC Provincial Court clarified that to order a report under s 34 (1) the court does not need to conclude or even suspect that the evaluation would indicate that a person has a “diagnosed condition”. Instead, 34(1) is satisfied if there is some indication that there is information relating to the young person’s medical condition that would assist the court in carrying out it’s purpose.


An assessment report can be ordered under ''YCJA'' section 34(2) for a limited number of designated purposes, i.e. if the Youth Justice Court is:  
An assessment report can be ordered under ''YCJA'' section 34(2) for a limited number of designated purposes, i.e. if the Youth Justice Court is:  
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*making an order after a review of a breach of conditional supervision (s 109(2)), or  
*making an order after a review of a breach of conditional supervision (s 109(2)), or  
*authorizing disclosure of information about a young person (s 127(1)).
*authorizing disclosure of information about a young person (s 127(1)).
Section 34(2)(a) seems to significantly narrow the purposes for which an assessment can be ordered and restricts it to instances where the court is reviewing a previous decision via a section 33 application. In practice, however, the courts suggest that 34(2)(a) should be read to include bail hearings in the first instance. In R v. C.L. (27 February 2014), Vancouver 22805-2-C (BC Youth Div) the Youth Division of the BC Provincial Court noted that restricting s. 34 applications to a youth applying to release from detention “leads to an absurd result” because the same considerations apply before there has been a detention. Similarly, in R v C.B. ( 13 May 2014), Vancouver 23236-1; 23236-2-A (BC Youth Div) the court recognized that 34(2), if read narrowly, is inconsistent with other parts of the act. In C.B. the court notes that s. 34 (2) should be read “expansively” so that it applies to “a release from or detention in custody of a young person who is before the court, whether it is by s.33 or by the more general process of arrest”. Both cases indicate that 34 (2) (a) is not limited to applications under s. 33.


Only the people described in section 119 of the ''YCJA'' can have access to the medical and psychological reports outlined in section 34.
Only the people described in section 119 of the ''YCJA'' can have access to the medical and psychological reports outlined in section 34.