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After many years of discussion and debate, the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) hit the ground on April 1, 2003. The YCJA introduces significant changes to the youth justice system in Canada, both in philosophy and in practice. The underlying concepts -
- rehabilitation and
reintegration
- accountability
- timeliness
- meaningful involvement of victims and the community
- signal a significant departure from the principles underlying the YOA. There is no mention of deterrence and 'protection of society' is now deemed a long-term goal of the youth justice system rather than a short-term measure.
The term 'conferencing' is used throughout the YCJA and generally references two different processes: case management conferences and community or restorative conferences. The first can be seen as a planning process, typically including the youth, their family and the various professionals involved. The focus is clearly on the young person.
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A Community Conference involves youth being directly accountable to the people they have harmed (see back page). This later process is what we are familiar with at Calgary Community Conferencing (CCC). In the year 2000, CCC received funding from the Department of Justice-Canada as an Innovative Pilot Project specifically to address this section of the YCJA.
While restorative conferences can be convened at any stage throughout the YCJA, CCC will continue to accept referrals from our two primary sources: Calgary Board of Education and Calgary Youth Court. Our focus remains on situations where the incident/offence has resulted in a significant impact. This may involve the direct victims or others in the community indirectly affected. In a school community, many others can be impacted by the actions of one student, whether the incident is termed 'criminal' or not.
The philosophical thrust of the YCJA is clear. Responses must be meaningful and acknowledge the impact on victims and the larger community.
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Youth shall have opportunities to be personally accountable for their behaviour and the context for this accountability is learning rather than punishment.
We are excited about the change in legislation and we anticipate continued increases in referrals. The graph on page 2 shows the trend through the last 4 years.
Over the past few years, CCC has been involved in preparing school officials, community organizations, judges, lawyers, police officers and probation officers across the country for the YCJA. The one consistent theme that appears to set Calgary apart is the degree to which the various players work together. This collaboration, at both the personal and organizational levels, is central to the ongoing development of CCC, and we thank all for this support.
By Doug Borch
If you would like more information about the Youth Criminal Justice Act, go to
www.canada.justice.gc.ca, click on programs and services and follow the links.
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