Teen crime law review promised
Toronto slaying adds impetus to Tory pledge
Chris Wattie, Reuters
The stabbing death of a 14-year-old girl in Toronto this week, and the subsequent murder charges against two teenage acquaintances, opens a year in which Canada's youth justice law will come under intense legal and political scrutiny.
Parliament is expected to vote this year on legislation radically toughening the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) by increasing sentences for serious youth crimes and making it easier for judges to keep young people locked up before their trials if they are considered a risk to public safety.
Just ice Minister Rob Nicholson has also promised this year a sweeping review of the entire YCJA, a controversial law long criticized for being too soft on teenagers who commit violent or repeat offences.
And the Supreme Court of Canada is expected to announce a decision on whether two clauses of the YCJA violate the Constitution. The clauses would put the onus on violent young offenders to prove why they shouldn't be sentenced as adults, or to have their names published.
If the country's highest court upholds those clauses, the Conservative government will likely be emboldened to press forward with an election promise to impose automatic adult jail terms on teenagers, 14 and older, convicted of serious crimes.
But if the court strikes down the sentencing clauses, as many legal scholars expect
it will, there could be a showdown between the court and the government on the subject of youth crime -- a tricky political issue in what may become an election year.
"As we wait for the Supreme Court 's ruling on the case, Canada's judiciary
set on a collision course with the legislative branch of government," says Rishi Hargovan, writing recently on The Court.ca, an online Supreme Court discussion forum hosted by Osgoode Hall Law School.
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