Glossary

• Author: Nicholas Bala
• Profession: Professor of Law Queen's University
• Pages: 577-590

577

accountability: the principle of intervention and sentencing that consid-

ers the responsibility of offenders for their acts and calls for a response that

is proportional 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. Within the justice system,

age is generally established as of the date of the alleged offence.

adult sentence: a youth fourteen years or older who has committed a

very serious offence may have an adult sentence imposed. If the Crown

wishes 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 trial. An

adult sentence can only be imposed after a youth justice court determines

under s. 72 of the YCJA that a youth sentence would “not be adequate to

hold the young person accountable.” If the youth justice court determines

that an adult-length sentence is appropriate, it may still decide that a

youth will serve a portion of the sentence in a youth custody facility.

adversarial: a system of justice premised on each party having an obliga-

tion to present evidence and argument to support its position, though

there are special obligations of fairness for the Crown prosecutor. A hall-

mark of Canada’s adversarial system is that the judge, a neutral figure,

remains relatively passive during a trial; in the inquisitorial model of jus-

GLossary