Canada’s youth crime laws hailed a ‘success’

originally published:
10th November 2009

Canadian youth crime laws are being held up by British researchers as a shining example of success at a time when the Harper government has denounced them as an unmitigated failure that must be replaced with “new balanced legislation that focuses on deterrence and responsibility.”

Researchers Enver Solomon and Rob Allen, in a study highlighting “lessons from abroad” that could be used to reduce youth crime in England and Wales, conclude that Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act has met its goal of cutting the crime rate and incarcerating fewer young people.

“My impression was that it was a very progressive piece of legislation, one of the most progressive in relation to youth crime passed by a jurisdiction in English-speaking Western world in a number of years,” Mr. Solomon said in an interview.

The act, adopted by the former Liberal government in 2003 to replace the Young Offenders Act, promotes rehabilitation for young people aged 12 to 17 who are in trouble with the law, while reserving incarceration for serious violent crimes.

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Posted by Gaynor Kuye on 17/11/2009. Filed under Policy & Reform. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry