The Youth Criminal Justice Act ( Ycja )

1199 Words3 Pages

Introduction
As noted by Allen (2016), measures that are implemented outside the courtrooms, especially in a formal procedure, may lead to the provision of accurate as well as timely considerations for youth crime. As such, Canada is keen in the reinforcement of these regulations, as they determine both short and long-term judicial solutions. Most importantly, the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) in Canada plays a major role in the implementation of extrajudicial measures as they may affirm to the occurrence of future issues. According to the Government of Canada (2015a), this calls for an attempt to channel out or divert such offenders from the mainstream justice system to a lesser formal way of dealing with the offenses. This paper attempts to investigate the appropriateness of the extrajudicial measures in Canada, and the reason behind why we established these provisions of the YCJA. It also illustrates an example of a Canadian case, which questions the extrajudicial measures. This discussion canvasses the main argument as for or against the extrajudicial measures in Canada through the adoption of recommendations to the Canadian Government about the proper situations in which such processes should be used.
Extrajudicial Measures: When and why we established these provisions of the YCJA
The YCJA took effect on April 1, 2003, emphasizing the use of diversion programs that were aiming to decrease the use of over-reliance on incarceration for young non-violent persons (The Youth Criminal Justice Act Summary and Background, 2016). Extrajudicial measures were one of the main tactics. Extrajudicial measures should be used in all cases where they are be able to hold a young person accountable for his/her actions, be efficient to hold...

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...ot be proceeded with. Hence, at the end of the day there will be no permanent record of being guilty. This is beneficial because it encourages youth persons to understand and repair the harm that has been done, both to the victim and the community. The youth completing the measures will most likely acknowledge the difference between right and wrong.
However, some police have different views towards community programs that youth are being referred to through extrajudicial programs. Some police have raised concerns on the youth being referred to community programs, with assumptions of the event proceeding without a charge. In addition, this approach would not trigger any consequences for their misconduct (Reid et al., 2015). It is clear that some police are expecting youth persons to deal with the consequences since they have chosen to take part of negative actions.

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