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Persuasive Essay On Youth Justice

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When a young person breaks the law in Canada, they are dealt with differently than adults, for they lack the level of maturity and development. The federal law that governs Canada’s youth justice system is Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). The act was created in 2003 with a purpose to hold youth (12-17) accountable through sanctions that contribute to the protection of the public. The basic principles of this act are crime prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration, protection of the public and youth, meaningful consequences, and accountability. Hence, it is fair and equitable, as well as effective for youth to a great extent, with preventing crime while ensuring the accountability of a young offender. The data from Statistics Canada show that youth crime has decreased 42% since 2000. This essay focuses on how the justice system effectively ensures the protection of society, the innocent, and ensures that those who break the law, face appropriate consequences.

The justice system assures that the protection of the public is taken into account when dealing with delinquents. The consequences received by youth, appear to be less severe than the adults; for the reason, that youth has much lower maturity level and are not mentally developed yet. One of the ways the protection of society is assured is by referring young people to programs, such as ‘John Howard Society’ and ‘Offender Work Programs’ to address circumstances underlying their offending behaviour. For example, a

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