Youth Criminal Defence Lawyer in Brampton, ON

The Youth Criminal Justice Act defines a young person as someone who is, or in the absence of evidence to the contrary appears to be, twelve years old or older but less than eighteen. Age at the time of the alleged offence governs, not age at the time of charge or trial.

A child under twelve cannot be charged with a criminal offence at all. A person who was seventeen when the offence is alleged to have occurred is dealt with under the Act even if they have since turned eighteen.

Extrajudicial measures are ways of dealing with an offence without a prosecution — a warning, a caution, a referral to a community programme, or a sanction agreed with the Crown. The Act treats them as the presumptively appropriate response for a young person who has not committed a violent offence and has no history.

Section 4 states that extrajudicial measures are often the most appropriate and effective way to address youth crime, and that they should be used if they are adequate to hold the young person accountable. Section 5 sets the objectives: a timely response, repair of harm, involvement of families and communities, and an opportunity for victims to participate.

Getting a matter diverted is frequently the single most valuable thing that can happen in a youth case, because it avoids a finding of guilt altogether. It is worth pursuing early rather than after positions have hardened.

Generally no. The Act protects the identity of young persons dealt with under it, and publishing information that would identify a young person as having been dealt with under the Act is prohibited except in defined circumstances.

Youth records are also kept separately from adult records and are accessible only for limited periods and limited purposes set out in the Act. They are not permanent in the way an adult record is, but they are not nothing either — during the access period a youth record can affect certain applications and, if the young person is convicted as an adult later, can be relevant.

The protection is not absolute. It can be lost where an adult sentence is imposed, and the rules around publication are technical enough that a young person should be advised specifically rather than reassured generally.

Yes, in limited circumstances. The Crown may seek an adult sentence for a young person who was fourteen or older at the time of a serious offence, and the court must be satisfied that a youth sentence would not be long enough to hold the young person accountable.

An application of that kind changes the case completely, including the possibility of losing the publication protection. It calls for dedicated attention from the outset rather than being treated as a sentencing issue that can wait.

The Act restricts custody sharply. It is not available as a substitute for child protection, mental health or other social measures, and the court must consider all reasonable alternatives before imposing it.

In practice that means a well-prepared alternative — a structured plan involving school, family supervision, counselling or a community programme — is often what decides the sentence. That work is a substantive part of defending a young person, not an afterthought.

A young person has the same right to counsel as an adult, and the Act reinforces it. Nobody should assume that because the accused is young the matter is minor.