A Legal Guide to Your Rights and Responsibilities For People Under 18

2002 - 03 Redraft to suit Youth Criminal Justice Act, S.C. 2002 C.1

Updated Version – September 2004

Important: Please read first

This material is written for young people who are under 18 years old.  Its purpose is to give general information about your rights.  It should not be used for a specific problem that you have.  To get such advice you should speak to a lawyer or legal worker.  See section – Lawyers.

If you have a legal problem, it is important to talk to a lawyer because:

• the law is always changing and although we try to update the information regularly it might be out of date;

• the laws and rights described here are complicated. To make this information easier to read, some words are used that may not be as accurate as the words in the law. This site contains a summary of the law and some of the issues are not completely discussed; and

• your specific circumstance always makes a difference.

Whenever the word parent* is used, it includes any person who has custody* or control of you.

Note:  Whenever you see the symbol * beside a word(s) in bold type you can find the word and an explanation in the Definitions section.

Whenever you see the abbreviation “YCJA” it stands for Youth Criminal Justice Act, “C.C.C.” stands for Canadian Criminal Code; and “s.” stands for “section” and tells you where to look in the legislation. If it doesn’t say what statute, it means the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Justice for Children and Youth, and the authors of the material contained on this site will not be responsible for any loss or damage caused by reliance on any statement, made negligently or otherwise, contained herein.

Contents

1. Introduction to the Youth Criminal Justice Act
2. The Police
3. Lawyers
4. Detention
5. Extrajudicial Measures/Sanctions
6. In Court
7. Sentencing
8. Aboriginal Youth
9. Youth Sentences
10. Adult Sentences
11. Records, Fingerprints, Photos, DNA
12. Appeals
13. Definitions