Glossary

• Author: Nicholas Bala, Sanjeev Anand
• Pages: 741-755

741

GLOSSARY

accountability: the principle of intervention and sentencing that con-

siders the responsibilit y of offenders for their acts and calls for a re-

sponse that is proportiona l to the offence. Section 3(1)(b) of the YCJA

declares that youths should be held accountable, but generally not to

the same extent as adults.

adult: a person eighteen years of age or older. In the criminal justice

system, age is generally establi shed as of the date of the alleged offence.

adult sentence: a youth fourteen years or older may have an adult sen-

tence imposed; this i s generally only considered if the offence is one

of the most serious offences. If the Crown w ishes to have the youth

justice court impose an adult sentence, the youth must receive notice

before trial and will have the right to a jury tri al. An adult sentence

can be imposed only after a youth justice court determines under sec-

tion 72 of the YCJA that a youth sentence would “not be of suff‌icient

length to hold the young person accountable for his or her offending

behaviour.” If the youth justice court determines that an adult-length

sentence is appropriate, the youth cannot be placed in an adult facil ity

until reaching the age of eighteen years, and there is a discretion in the

court to delay transfer to an adult facility through early adulthood.

adversarial: a system of justice premised on each party hav ing an obli-

gation to present evidence and argument to support its po sition, though

there are special obligations of fairness for the Crown prosecutor.

A hallmark of Can ada’s adversarial system is that the judge, a neutral