Young Offenders Act

22 Pages 5542 Words

es, the JDA also addressed child welfare (child protection) issues. This was reflected in the sentencing section as well. This permitted a juvenile court judge to "commit the child to the charge of any children's aid society" where the child might then be dealt with under the provincial child welfare law.
• Since proceedings under the JDA were not really "criminal" in nature, Juvenile Court trials were allowed to be "as informal as the circumstances would permit". In addition, no proceedings were to be set aside "because of any informality or irregularity where it appeared that the disposition of the case was in the best interests of the child".
• These provisions allowed the rules of evidence to be relaxed in Juvenile Court, and young people were often deprived of rights that would have been observed in the case of an adult charged with the same offence. This situation was radically altered when the YOA became the law in Canada.
General Principles- YOA
• Under the YOA youths are prosecuted only for crimes. They are expected to be r...