Criminal Offences: Youth Criminal Justice Act (2:III)

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A. Who does the act apply to?

1. Applicable Age

“Child” is defined in Section 2(1) of the YCJA as a person who is, or, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, appears to be less than 12 years old. Section 13 of the CC states that no person under the age of twelve years will be convicted of an offence.

“Young person” is defined in Section 2(1) of the YCJA as a person who is, or, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, appears to be, 12 years old or older, but less than 18 years old.

2. Effect of Young Person Turning 18

Section 14(5) states that the YCJA applies to persons 18 years old or older who are alleged to have committed an offence while a young person. Section 14(4) states that extrajudicial measures taken or judicial proceedings commenced against a young person may be continued after the person attains the age of 18 years. 3. Applicable Court for Young Person Under section 2(5) of the Provincial Court Act, RSBC 1996, c 379, the Provincial Court is designated as the Youth Justice Court for the purposes of the YCJA, and a provincial court judge is a Youth Justice Court judge. The superior court of British Columbia has concurrent jurisdiction as a youth justice court where the Crown is seeking an adult sentence for a young person. B.Declaration of Principle The YCJA contains a declaration of principle. The principles that apply are set out in section 3 of the YCJA, and must be used to interpret the entire Act. The youth criminal justice system is intended to protect the public by: i) holding young persons accountable through measures that are proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the young person, ii) promoting the rehabilitation and reintegration of young persons who have committed offences, and iii) supporting the prevention of crime by referring young persons to programs or agencies in the community to address the circumstances underlying their offending behaviour. The criminal justice system for young persons must be separate from that of adults, must be based on the principle of diminished moral blameworthiness or culpability and must emphasize the following: i) rehabilitation and reintegration, ii) fair and proportionate accountability that is consistent with the