LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS
RECOMMENDATION 1The Committee recommends that a separate youth justice system be maintained and that Parliament, mindful of the importance of ongoing consultation with the provinces and territories, continue to exercise its criminal law power arising from its jurisdiction to provide guidance as to how the core elements of this system should be applied. (page 7)
RECOMMENDATION 2
The Committee recommends that the Young Offenders Act be amended by replacing the present declaration of principle with a statement of purpose and an enunciation of guiding principles for its implementation in all components of the youth justice system. the statement of purpose should establish that protection of society is the main goal of criminal law and that protection of society, crime prevention and rehabilitation are mutually reinforcing strategies and values that can be effectively applied and realized in dealing with youth offending. (page 15)
RECOMMENDATION 3
The Committee recommends that the Minister of Justice undertake discussions with provincial and territorial ministers responsible for youth justice to foster, in conjunction with community agencies, comprehensive, multifaceted education campaigns on youth crime, the Young Offenders Act and the youth justice system to be directed at the general public, those who work in the system and those who come into contact with it. (page 24)
RECOMMENDATION 4
The Committee recommends that the federal government, in consultation with the provinces and territories, allocate 1.5% a year of its current budget for police, courts and corrections to crime prevention, and that by the turn of the century, it should be spending at least 5% of its current criminal justice budget on crime prevention measures. These resources should be directed wherever possible to community-based crime prevention efforts.
The Committee further recommends that the Minister of Justice undertake discussions with provincial and territorial ministers for justice to foster the creation of local crime prevention and community safety councils at the community level to work towards safer communities. Membership of the council should be broadly based to include local justice agencies (governmental and non-governmental), local governments and welfare agencies, school boards, victim groups as well as a cross section of the community. The mandate of the CPCS councils would be to co-ordinate community resources to prevent crime, to increase community alternatives to incarceration and to educate the community on the workings of the criminal justice system. (page 33)
RECOMMENDATION 5
The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada enter into discussions with provincial and territorial ministers responsible for youth justice issues with the goal of shifting resources away from custodial institutions and into community-based services in support of children and families. (page 39)
RECOMMENDATION 6
The Committee recommends that the Minister of Justice, in consultation with his provincial and territorial counterparts, undertake renegotiation of the young offenders' cost-sharing agreement with the goal of ensuring that 80% of the shareable costs are to be allocated to non-custodial programs and services. (page 43)
RECOMMENDATION 7
The Committee recommends that the youth justice system be reformed to accommodate alternatives to it that are described in this report such as police cautioning, family group conferencing and circle sentencing, and, if necessary, that the Young Offenders Act be amended to ensure that these reforms are put in place. (page 55)
RECOMMENDATION 8
The Committee recommends that the current provision in the Young Offenders Act (Section 69) dealing with youth justice committees be strengthened considerably to reflect the prominence this institution should play in a renewed youth justice system. There should be enough built-in flexibility in any renewed legislative provision to allow communities to determine the role to be played by these committees in relation to the coordination and delivery of services to young people. Any such amendment to the Act should immediately follow other recommended amendments setting out a new statement of purpose for the Act and enunciation of its guiding principles. (page 57)
RECOMMENDATION 9
The Committee recommends that Section 13 of the Criminal Code (which establishes 12 as the minimum age of criminal liability) and the Young Offenders Act be amended so as to provide the Youth Court with jurisdiction to deal with 10 and 11 year old young persons alleged to have committed criminal offences causing death or serious harm. Such an amendment should require the Attorney General, after consultation with the appropriate child protection/child welfare, mental health, education and other authorities, to personally consent to prosecuting such young persons before Youth Court. Any such amendment should further require the Youth Court judge to review the seriousness and circumstances of the alleged offence, the character and background of the young person, and the availability of appropriate child protection/child welfare, mental health, education, or other services or programs before deciding if the young person should be dealt with in the Youth Justice System. Under this amendment, if the Youth Court judge decides to refer the young person to services and programs outside of the Youth Justice System, the criminal charges would be held in abeyance while the young person is being dealt with by these other services and programs. If, under this amendment, these services and programs deal effectively with the young person's offending behaviour, the criminal charges held in abeyance could be dismissed by the Youth Court judge. (page 61)
RECOMMENDATION 10
The Committee recommends that the Young Offenders Act not be amended to change the maximum age. (page 63)
RECOMMENDATION 11
The Committee recommends that the Young Offenders Act be amended so that the non-presumptive transfer provisions can be invoked at the post-adjudication, dispositional stage of proceedings.
The Committee further recommends that the presumptive transfer provisions contained in Bill C-37 be evaluated by the Department of Justice within three years and that the findings and recommendations of the review be reported back to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs. (page 65)
RECOMMENDATION 12
The Committee recommends that the Young Offenders Act be amended to provide that parents or guardians be required to attend Youth Court whenever a notice is sent to a young person provided, however, that a Youth Court judge could excuse a parent or guardian in exceptional circumstances. (page 68)
RECOMMENDATION 13
The Committee recommends that the Young Offenders Act be amended to provide Youth Court judges with discretion to allow the general publication of the name of a young offender in circumstances where persons are at risk of serious harm and where for safety reasons, the public interest requires that this be done. (page 69)
RECOMMENDATION 14
The Committee recommends that Section 56(2) of the Young Offenders Act be amended to provide for the exercise of judicial discretion in determining whether statements by young persons to peace officers or persons in authority may be admitted into evidence against them by Youth Court judges, where to do so would not bring the administration of justice into disrepute. (page 71)