Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) Essay Sample

On April 1, 2003, the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) came into force, replacing the previous legislation, YOA (Young Offenders Act). The act applies to Canadian youth aged 12-17 who have been convicted of a crime, hoping to keep youth away from incarceration and better their overall well-being. The YCJA focuses on crime prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration, and meaningful consequences such as extrajudicial measures and community service. The law allows most  youth to learn from their mistakes instead of being labeled as a criminal. However, do we really know how effective this method is, or is this just another failed attempt to prevent crime without being overly harsh? Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice, had this to say about the YCJA, “If you harm somebody or destroy something, you will face consequences. The Youth Criminal Justice Act sets out those consequences. We can discuss whether the consequences are too soft or too harsh, but there are consequences.” While some might say the system is just right and helps prevent crime, I disagree. The YCJA deals well with youth who have committed minor crimes like vandalism, theft under 5000, and disorderly conduct. However when it comes to managing serious crimes such as murder and assault, and stopping repeated offenders, the system must be harsher and better protect society. You may say they are “just innocent kids learning what's right and wrong”, and you may be right, but when the safety of our community is in jeopardy it doesn't matter how young an offender is, they must be dealt with properly.

Youth sentencings are far too short and not even close to being harsh enough when it comes to serious crimes such as assualt, drug possesion, sexual assualt, bodily harm, and murder. Too many youth are being let off the hook  with just a slap on the wrist, despite the severity of the crime they have committed. This needs to be fixed. According to statistics, youth charged with sexual violation against children, are higher then any other age in the age catagory of 12-25. Since 2003, the amount of youth who have been accused of this crime has risen very quickly and will continue to rise at an alarming pace if the system does not take measures to control the amount of youth committing serious crimes. In 2003, the amount of youth charged with sexual assault against children was 0, and now in 2020 it is a whopping 899! That is not all, on top of this, manslaughter incidents have slowly risen over the years going from 61-94, between 2000-2014 youth drug offences have relatively stayed the same but did increase a bit, as of 2014 youth were accused of crime far more than other ages, and youth accused of violent crimes and other serious crimes is higher than any other age by a ton. If you still don't believe the system is not harsh enough, check out this case that took place in August of 2007. A 14 year old boy shot and killed his adoptive mother and her four year old daughter. He only received 7 years for the horrific crime he commited and has no criminal record. He is now released, and no one knows who or where he is now. I think dangerous offenders should have their identities shown and those who commit serious crimes, despite their ages, should be given adult sentences to protect society from what they may do once released. 

Youth are also not being taught a lesson from the sentences they are receiving for crimes they have committed. These consequences are too lenient, and due to this many youth who have committed a crime, reoffend or continue to have encounters with the law. The youth are not learning a true lesson and think that they can continue to get away with their mischief without facing real harsh consequences. For example, in 2008, 14 teenagers stole an SUV, and spent the night reckless street racing with the SUV and another car. This led to the death of a 55 year old taxi driver, Antonio Lanzellotti. The teen who was driving the car that hit Lanzellotti’s cab was incarcerated for 7 years but has been released.  The other 13 teens who were also involved in the crash and stealing the Suv, faced community service and probation sentences. All of them  have either re-committed, breached probation, or had encounters with the law. One male has since faced chargers for sexual assualt and a criminal mischeif charge, another male was accused of a violent home invasion, and a female faced charges for vehivle theft. Another four of the teens who were involved in the original incident  are on trial facing charges like murder, assualt, and drug possesion,  one has an active warrant out for his arrest, and the others have all  breached their original probabtion from the incident in 2008. Statistics also show that in Manitoba, where this crime took place, between 40% and 60% of youth who were charged with crimes have re-committed or had encounters with the law. Reporting Youth Recidivism (re-offending) rate is difficult  because data is unreliable and uneven and it is hard to track youth once they have left the program . The unreliable data makes it difficult to know for sure if the YCJA act is truly working or not, however there are still too many reported cases of youth re-offending.

As we have read above, The Youth Criminal Justice System could make some changes to better protect society and prevent crime. However it is not all bad. It is a huge improvement from our previous legislation, the Young Offenders Act, and can continue to evolve if we make some modifications when it comes to the severity of punishments given for serious crimes, and preventing repeated offenders.