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1st Session, 37th Parliament, 49 Elizabeth II, 2001
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House of Commons of Canada
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BILL C-7 |
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An Act in respect of criminal justice for young
persons and to amend and repeal other
Acts
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Preamble
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WHEREAS members of society share a
responsibility to address the developmental
challenges and the needs of young persons and
to guide them into adulthood;
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WHEREAS communities, families, parents
and others concerned with the development of
young persons should, through
multi-disciplinary approaches, take
reasonable steps to prevent youth crime by
addressing its underlying causes, to respond to
the needs of young persons, and to provide
guidance and support to those at risk of
committing crimes;
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WHEREAS information about youth justice,
youth crime and the effectiveness of measures
taken to address youth crime should be
publicly available;
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WHEREAS Canada is a party to the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
and recognizes that young persons have rights
and freedoms, including those stated in the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
and the Canadian Bill of Rights, and have
special guarantees of their rights and
freedoms;
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AND WHEREAS Canadian society should
have a youth criminal justice system that
commands respect, takes into account the
interests of victims, fosters responsibility and
ensures accountability through meaningful
consequences and effective rehabilitation and
reintegration, and that reserves its most
serious intervention for the most serious
crimes and reduces the over-reliance on
incarceration for non-violent young persons;
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NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate and
House of Commons of Canada, enacts as
follows:
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SHORT TITLE |
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Short title
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1. This Act may be cited as the Youth
Criminal Justice Act.
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INTERPRETATION |
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Definitions
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2. (1) The definitions in this subsection
apply in this Act.
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``adult'' « adulte »
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``adult'' means a person who is neither a
young person nor a child.
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``adult
sentence'' « peine applicable aux adultes »
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``adult sentence'', in the case of a young
person who is found guilty of an offence,
means any sentence that could be imposed
on an adult who has been convicted of the
same offence.
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``Attorney
General'' « procureur général »
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``Attorney General'' means the Attorney
General as defined in section 2 of the
Criminal Code, read as if the reference in
that definition to ``proceedings'' were a
reference to ``proceedings or extrajudicial
measures'', and includes an agent or
delegate of the Attorney General.
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``child'' « enfant »
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``child'' means a person who is or, in the
absence of evidence to the contrary, appears
to be less than twelve years old.
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``conference'' « groupe consultatif »
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``conference'' means a group of persons who
are convened to give advice in accordance
with section 19.
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``confirmed
delivery
service'' « service de messagerie »
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``confirmed delivery service'' means certified
or registered mail or any other method of
service that provides proof of delivery.
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``custodial
portion'' « période de garde »
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``custodial portion'', with respect to a youth
sentence imposed on a young person under
paragraph 42(2)(n), (o), (q) or (r), means the
period of time, or the portion of the young
person's youth sentence, that must be
served in custody before he or she begins to
serve the remainder under supervision in
the community subject to conditions under
paragraph 42(2)(n) or under conditional
supervision under paragraph 42(2)(o), (q)
or (r).
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``disclosure'' « communicat iont »
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``disclosure'' means the communication of
information other than by way of
publication.
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``extrajudicial
measures'' « mesures extrajudi- ciaires »
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``extrajudicial measures'' means measures
other than judicial proceedings under this
Act used to deal with a young person
alleged to have committed an offence and
includes extrajudicial sanctions.
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``extrajudicial
sanction'' « sanction extrajudi- ciaire »
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``extrajudicial sanction'' means a sanction
that is part of a program referred to in
section 10.
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``offence'' « infraction »
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``offence'' means an offence created by an Act
of Parliament or by any regulation, rule,
order, by-law or ordinance made under an
Act of Parliament other than an ordinance
of the Yukon Territory or the Northwest
Territories or a law of the Legislature for
Nunavut.
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``parent'' « père ou mère » ou « père et mère »
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``parent'' includes, in respect of a young
person, any person who is under a legal duty
to provide for the young person or any
person who has, in law or in fact, the
custody or control of the young person, but
does not include a person who has the
custody or control of the young person by
reason only of proceedings under this Act.
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``pre-sentence
report'' « rapport prédécision- nel »
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``pre-sentence report'' means a report on the
personal and family history and present
environment of a young person made in
accordance with section 40.
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``presumptive
offence'' « infraction désignée »
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``presumptive offence'' means
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``provincial
director'' « directeur provincial » ou « directeur »
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``provincial director'' means a person, a group
or class of persons or a body appointed or
designated by or under an Act of the
legislature of a province or by the lieutenant
governor in council of a province or his or
her delegate to perform in that province,
either generally or in a specific case, any of
the duties or functions of a provincial
director under this Act.
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``publication'' « publication »
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``publication'' means the communication of
information by making it known or
accessible to the general public through any
means, including print, radio or television
broadcast, telecommunication or electronic
means.
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``record'' « dossier »
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``record'' includes any thing containing
information, regardless of its physical form
or characteristics, including microform,
sound recording, videotape,
machine-readable record, and any copy of
any of those things, that is created or kept
for the purposes of this Act or for the
investigation of an offence that is or could
be prosecuted under this Act.
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``review
board'' « commission d'examen »
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``review board'' means a review board
referred to in subsection 87(2).
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``serious
violent
offence'' « infraction grave avec violence »
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``serious violent offence'' means an offence in
the commission of which a young person
causes or attempts to cause serious bodily
harm.
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``young
person'' « adolescent »
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``young person'' means a person who is or, in
the absence of evidence to the contrary,
appears to be twelve years old or older, but
less than eighteen years old and, if the
context requires, includes any person who
is charged under this Act with having
committed an offence while he or she was
a young person or who is found guilty of an
offence under this Act.
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``youth
custody
facility'' « lieu de garde »
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``youth custody facility'' means a facility
designated under subsection 85(2) for the
placement of young persons and, if so
designated, includes a facility for the secure
restraint of young persons, a community
residential centre, a group home, a child
care institution and a forest or wilderness
camp.
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``youth justice
court'' « tribunal pour adoles- cents »
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``youth justice court'' means a youth justice
court referred to in section 13.
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``youth justice
court judge'' « juge du tribunal pour adoles- cents »
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``youth justice court judge'' means a youth
justice court judge referred to in section 13.
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``youth
sentence'' « peine spécifique »
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``youth sentence'' means a sentence imposed
under section 42, 51 or 59 or any of sections
94 to 96 and includes a confirmation or a
variation of that sentence.
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``youth
worker'' « délégué à la jeunesse »
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``youth worker'' means any person appointed
or designated, whether by title of youth
worker or probation officer or by any other
title, by or under an Act of the legislature of
a province or by the lieutenant governor in
council of a province or his or her delegate
to perform in that province, either generally
or in a specific case, any of the duties or
functions of a youth worker under this Act.
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Words and
expressions
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(2) Unless otherwise provided, words and
expressions used in this Act have the same
meaning as in the Criminal Code.
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Descriptive
cross-referenc
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(3) If, in any provision of this Act, a
reference to another provision of this Act or a
provision of any other Act is followed by
words in parentheses that are or purport to be
descriptive of the subject-matter of the
provision referred to, those words form no part
of the provision in which they occur but are
inserted for convenience of reference only.
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DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLE |
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Policy for
Canada with
respect to
young persons
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3. (1) The following principles apply in this
Act:
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Act to be
liberally
construed
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(2) This Act shall be liberally construed so
as to ensure that young persons are dealt with
in accordance with the principles set out in
subsection (1).
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