La détermination de la peine dans le contexte de la Loi sur le système de justice pénale pour les adolescents
The Youth Criminal Justice Act is recent in the field of youth justice. This law came into effect in April 2003 and changed the criteria in the youth justice system sentencing. This thesis aims at identifying the elements on which judges base their decisions. In order to do so, an analysis of the available case law and interviews with judges sitting in the Montreal Youth Chamber of the Quebec Court have been done The enforcement of dispositions related to sentencing goals and principles generated comments from the judges, who reported some difficulties. Guidelines have been established by the judges in the course of their practice. These are also followed by these same judges. The youth justice system tends to get closer to the adult justice system, which ascribes a greater weight to the offence and lesser one to the offender. Yet, judges try to make those two justice systems different. Judges are also looking for a balance between two major sentencing principles: the sentence must be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the degree of responsibility of the youth for that offence, and the sentence must promote the rehabilitation and reintegration of the young offender into society.
Justice Sentencing Sentence Young Offenders Criminal Act Justice Youth