Glossary

• Author: Nicholas Bala/Sanjeev Anand
• Pages: 709-721

709

GLOSSARY

accountability: the pri nciple of intervention and sentencing that considers

the re sponsibility of offenders for their acts and call s for a response th at is

proportional to the offence. Sect ion 3(1)(b) of the YCJA decla res that youth s

should be held accountable, but generally not to the sa me extent as adults.

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

is generally est ablished as of the date of the alleged offence.

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

offence may have an adult sentence imposed. If the Crow n wishes to have the

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

before tr ial and w ill have the right to a jury trial. An adult sentence ca n be

imposed only after a youth justice court determines under section 72 of the

YCJA that a youth sentence would “ not be adequate to hold the young person

accountable.” If the youth just ice court determ ines that an adult-length se n-

tence is appropriate, it may still decide that a youth wil l serve a portion of the

sentence in a youth custody fac ility.

adversarial: a system of justice premi sed on each part y having an obligation

to pre sent evidence and argument to support its position, though there are

special obligations of fair ness for the Crown prosecutor. A hal lmark of Can-

ada’s adversari al system is th at the judge, a neutral f‌igure, remains re latively

passive during a tr ial; in the inquisitorial model of justice used in some Euro-

pean countr ies, judges play a more active role i n investigating t he alleged of-

fence and questioning w itnesses.