The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) serves as the legislative cornerstone for Canada's juvenile justice system. Governments, police, attorneys, judges, and others are collaborating closely with communities and families across the nation to prevent youth crime and guarantee a just and efficient juvenile justice system. According to the Canadian Constitution, the administration of the criminal justice system is the provinces' and territories' responsibility. Although the federal government is in charge of criminal law, including legislation pertaining to youth justice, For many people, particularly young individuals, mistakes are common. The process of their growth and maturity could potentially lead them to make unthinking decisions at such …show more content…
The act encourages children to pursue their lives and careers so they have a better future instead of dropping them at such a young age. This pushes them to find ways to not do things they have committed but to overcome those things and become a better version of themselves. It gives young people the opportunity to be able to attend college and university, and even helps them obtain the job these kids want for themselves in the future. To put it another way, the law acknowledges that young people must be held responsible but does so in a manner that considers their higher reliance and lower level of development. This has a positive effect on the children, who are encouraged by the act to not only improve but also develop into more self-sufficient and responsible adults, particularly when they begin to learn about growth and both the advantageous and detrimental parts of …show more content…
Which lays out a clear goal and set of guiding principles to help courts determine the right juvenile sentence. The goal of youth sentences is to hold young people responsible by enforcing penalties that have real repercussions for them, encourage their rehabilitation, and help them reintegrate into society. In this way, youth sentences help to ensure the public's long-term safety. The requirement that a punishment be proportionate to the gravity of the crime and the young person's level of accountability is a fundamental tenet of juvenile sentencing. In other words, the punishment must reflect the severity of the crime, the maturity of the juvenile offender, and the circumstances surrounding the crime. The YCJA also specifies that a fair penalty must be the least limiting choice that can achieve the sentencing goal and the option most likely to help the young person get better and reintegrate into society. It must encourage in the young individual a feeling of accountability as well as an understanding of the harm done. The goals of a sentence may also include denouncing illegal conduct and discouraging the young person from committing more crimes. Finally, a judge must first weigh all feasible alternatives to custody that are reasonable in the circumstances before deciding whether to sentence a young person to spend time in a youth detention facility, paying special attention to the circumstances of aboriginal young