BD
FREE CONSULTATION
HOME/CRIMINAL CHARGES/YOUTH MATTERS
YOUTH CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT

Youth Criminal Defence

A young person charged with a criminal offence is prosecuted under a different statute, with different principles, different records and different consequences. Handled properly, most youth matters end without anything following the young person into adulthood. Handled carelessly, they do not.

THE CHARGE

How the youth system differs

The Youth Criminal Justice Act applies to young persons who were twelve to seventeen at the time of the alleged offence, and it is built around rehabilitation and reintegration rather than punishment.

The Act directs the system to use the least intrusive response that adequately holds a young person accountable. In practice that means extrajudicial measures and sanctions, programmes and diversion are the expected outcome for most first time and less serious matters, and custody is genuinely exceptional.

The protections are also different. Statements taken from young persons must comply with heightened requirements including the right to consult a parent and counsel, and statements taken without those safeguards are frequently inadmissible. Identity is protected by publication restrictions, and youth records are governed by their own access and destruction rules.

For parents

Parents are entitled to notice and are expected to be involved, but the young person is the client and instructions come from them. The practical work of a youth file is often about school, counselling, employment and structure, because that material is what persuades the Crown to divert.

Adult sentences

In the most serious matters the Crown can seek an adult sentence. Opposing such an application is a distinct and specialised exercise, and it begins the moment notice is given.

THE CHARGES IN THIS GROUP

What you may be facing

Extrajudicial measures and sanctions
Programme based resolutions that leave no conviction and, in most cases, no lasting record.
Assault and violent offences
Frequently arising from school or peer incidents, and frequently resolvable through diversion.
Theft and property offences
The most common youth allegations, and the most straightforwardly divertible.
Drug offences
Possession matters, ordinarily addressed through programmes and counselling.
Weapons offences
Treated more seriously, including where the item is a knife rather than a firearm.
Sexual offences and image offences
Often involving phones and social media, with serious consequences requiring careful handling.
Breach of youth conditions
Handled within the youth framework, with its own approach to enforcement.
Adult sentence applications
Reserved for the most serious matters and opposed on the evidence and on the principles of the Act.
THE BURDEN OF PROOF

What the Crown has to prove

Every element must be established beyond a reasonable doubt. If one element fails, the charge fails with it.

THE ELEMENTS
•
The same elements as the equivalent adult offence. The standard of proof and the presumption of innocence are unchanged.
•
That the young person was within the statutory age range at the time of the alleged offence.
•
That any statement taken complied with the heightened requirements of section 146, including the right to consult a parent and counsel.
•
That the young person understood the caution and any waiver, which is assessed against their actual capacity rather than assumed.
•
That the identification is reliable, which in group incidents involving young people is frequently the weakest element.
EXPOSURE

Penalties and consequences

Extrajudicial sanctions
Completion results in no finding of guilt, and the record is closed and destroyed on the statutory timeline.
Probation and community sentences
The ordinary outcome where a finding is made, with conditions built around school, work and counselling.
Custody
Genuinely exceptional under the Act and reserved for serious violent offences and repeat matters.
Youth records
Access is restricted and records are destroyed on statutory timelines, provided nothing new is added to them.
School and travel
Schools and border officials can be affected in practice, which is a reason to resolve these matters properly.
Adult sentence
Available only in the most serious cases, and the notice triggering it changes the whole shape of the file.
Sentencing depends on the facts, the record of the accused and the position taken by the Crown. Nothing here is a prediction of the outcome of any particular case.
THE DEFENCE

How youth files are handled here

The objective in almost every youth matter is the same: resolve it in a way that leaves nothing behind.

Statements

Section 146 imposes real obligations on police when they question a young person. Where those steps were skipped or rushed, the statement is very often excluded, and in many youth files the statement is the case.

Diversion and the record supporting it

Crown offices divert youth matters where the material supports it. Letters from schools, counsellors, coaches and employers, and evidence of steps already taken, are what make that happen.

Identification in group incidents

Where several young people were present, the attribution of specific conduct to one of them is frequently unreliable and it is tested.

Protecting the record

Even where a finding is unavoidable, the disposition and its length determine how quickly the record closes. That is negotiated deliberately rather than accepted as offered.

•
Applications for the destruction of fingerprints and photographs taken on arrest are made once a youth matter has concluded, so that nothing avoidable remains on file.
HOW THE FILE IS RUN

What happens once you retain

•
Disclosure is requested immediately and read in full, including officer notes, audio, video and the continuity of every exhibit.
•
Release conditions are reviewed at the outset. Terms that make work, housing or contact with family unworkable can often be varied long before the case ends.
•
Legal issues are identified early, while there is still time to build a record for them.
•
The Crown is engaged from a prepared position. Resolution is pursued where it serves you, not because it is convenient.
•
You are kept informed throughout and you decide how the matter proceeds.
QUESTIONS WE ARE ASKED

Frequently asked questions

Will my child have a criminal record?
Where a matter is diverted through extrajudicial sanctions there is no finding of guilt, and youth records are subject to statutory access limits and destruction timelines. Protecting that outcome is usually the central objective.
Police questioned my child without me there. Is that allowed?
There are strict requirements for statements taken from young persons, including the right to consult a parent and counsel. Where they were not followed, the statement is frequently inadmissible.
Can my child be sentenced as an adult?
Only in the most serious cases, and only where the Crown gives notice and succeeds on an application. Those applications are opposed vigorously.
Do I instruct the lawyer, or does my child?
The young person is the client and gives instructions. Parents are involved, informed and important to the outcome, particularly on the plan presented to the Crown.
Can the charge affect university applications or travel?
A properly resolved youth matter should not, which is precisely why the resolution route matters so much.
SPEAK WITH COUNSEL

Charged with this offence? Let us talk about it.

The first consultation is free and confidential. You will get a direct assessment of the charge, the process ahead, and what it will cost. Flat fees, payment plans and Legal Aid certificates are all accepted.

647.721.5150REQUEST A CONSULTATION
Available evenings and weekends. Reachable at any hour for an arrest in progress.

Request a Free Confidential Consultation

Speak directly with Kashif Alam. Your information remains strictly confidential under solicitor-client privilege.