R. v. T.C., 2006 NSPC 61

• Judge: Williams, P.C.J.
• Case Date: December 05, 2006
• Jurisdiction: Nova Scotia
• Citations: 2006 NSPC 61;(2006), 251 N.S.R.(2d) 86 (YC)

R. v. T.C. (2006), 251 N.S.R.(2d) 86 (YC);

    802 A.P.R. 86

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2007] N.S.R.(2d) TBEd. JA.012

Her Majesty the Queen v. T.C.

(1583602; 1583665; 1592075; 1637211; 1637212; 1637279; 1658793; 1658794; 1660279; 1660281; 1660282; 1661027; 1661028; 1661029; 1661030; 1661031; 1672891; 1672892; 1677544; 1677545; 1677546; 1682564; 1682565; 1686628; 1690222; 1690224; 1693015; 1693025; 1693892; 1697668; 1697672; 1708843; 1708844; 2006 NSPC 61)

Indexed As: R. v. T.C.

Nova Scotia Youth Justice Court

Williams, P.C.J.

December 8, 2006.

Summary:

A young person, T.C., pleaded guilty to 31 offences involving assaultive behaviour, threats, property damage and breach of court orders. Counsel on behalf of the media, the Crown, T.C., and T.C.’s legal parent/guardian (the Minister of Community Services) applied for a ruling as to whether the public, including the media, would be permitted to attend a court convened pre-sentencing conference. The Crown, T.C. and the Minister asserted that the conference should not be open to the public and the media. Counsel for the media asserted that this was a public proceeding to which they should have access.

The Nova Scotia Youth Justice Court ordered that the public and the media be excluded from the conference.

Editor's Note: certain names in the following case have been initialized or the case otherwise edited to prevent the disclosure of identities where required by law, publication ban, Maritime Law Book's editorial policy or otherwise.

Criminal Law - Topic 8703.1

Young offenders - General principles - Standing of parents - A young person, T.C., pleaded guilty to 31 offences involving assaultive behaviour, threats, property damage and breach of court orders - The media, the Crown, T.C., and T.C.’s legal parent/guardian (the Minister of Community Services) applied for a ruling as to whether the public, including the media, would be permitted to attend a court convened pre-sentencing conference - The issue arose as to whether the Minister had standing to argue the merits of the application where they were not a party to the proceedings - The Nova Scotia Youth Justice Court stated that although a parent was not a party to Youth Criminal Justice proceedings per se, Parliament had recognized the need for the parent to play a vital role before the Youth Court - This was evidenced by numerous provisions in the Youth Criminal Justice Act which spoke to the participation of the parent - Additionally, parents often provided valuable information and assistance to the Youth Court in the course of proceedings - Accordingly, the Minister could and should provide input into the question of whether or not the conference should be open to the public and the media - See paragraphs 5 and 6.

Criminal Law - Topic 8717

Young offenders - General principles - Procedure - Publication ban - [See Criminal Law - Topic 8703.1 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 8717

Young offenders - General principles - Procedure - Publication ban - A youth pleaded guilty to 31 offences - At issue was whether the media should be excluded from a court convened pre-sentence conference pursuant to s. 132 of the Youth Criminal Justice Act - Section 132 gave a youth court judge discretionary power to exclude members of the public from court proceedings if, inter alia, the court considered that the person's presence was unnecessary to the conduct of the proceedings - The media asserted that the court should interpret "unnecessary" broadly and conclude that the media’s presence was vital to the process so as to ensure the process was open, transparent and accountable - The Nova Scotia Youth Justice Court rejected the assertion and applied the plain meaning of the word in a narrow context, i.e., was the public and the media unnecessary in the sense that they had nothing to offer, by way of recommendations or input at the conference convened to assist the court in imposing sentence - See paragraphs 54 to 57.

Criminal Law - Topic 8717

Young offenders - General principles - Procedure - Publication ban - A young person, T.C., pleaded guilty to 31 offences - The media, the Crown, T.C., and T.C.’s legal parent/guardian (the Minister of Community Services) applied for a ruling as to whether the public, including the media, would be permitted to attend a court convened pre-sentencing conference - Invitees to the conference were members of the mental health and child welfare community who had volunteered to meet, with T.C.’s consent, to discuss issues relating to T.C. which involved intimate details of her life - T.C.’s consent was dependent on the media being excluded - Without T.C.’s consent, several invitees would be prevented from participating in a meaningful way due to confidentiality concerns - The Nova Scotia Youth Justice Court ordered that the public and the media be excluded pursuant to s. 132 of the Youth Criminal Justice Act - The presence of the public and media was unnecessary to the conduct of the proceedings - This was one of those rare cases where exclusion was necessary to prevent a serious risk to the administration of justice - The court had no power to compel attendance at the conference - There would be serious, real and imminent risks to the administration of justice if the conference was open because it would not produce the desired result - There were no alternative measures which could prevent or reduce the risk of nonparticipation by the invitees - The benefits of exclusion outweighed the deleterious effect on the competing interest - See paragraphs 27 to 76.

Criminal Law - Topic 8717.1

Young offenders - General principles - Procedure - Conferences - [See Criminal Law - Topic 8703.1 and third Criminal Law - Topic 8717 ].

Criminal Law - Topic 8717.1

Young offenders - General principles - Procedure - Conferences - Section 19 of the Youth Criminal Justice Act authorized various individuals, including a youth justice court judge, to convene a conference for the purpose of making a decision required to be made under the Act during the course of proceedings - The mandate of a conference might be, amongst other things, to give advice and provide recommendations on sentencing (s. 41) - A youth justice court was required, before imposing a youth sentence, to consider any recommendations submitted under s. 41 - The Nova Scotia Youth Justice Court stated that a conference was not always a public hearing - However, a court convened pre-sentencing conference was part of the sentencing process and, prima facie, a public hearing - See paragraphs 27 to 31.

Cases Noticed:

Application Under Section 83.28 of the Criminal Code, Re, [2004] 2 S.C.R. 332; 322 N.R. 161; 199 B.C.A.C. 1; 326 W.A.C. 1; 2004 SCC 43, refd to. [para. 14].

Vancouver Sun, Re - see Application Under Section 83.28 of the Criminal Code, Re.

F.N., Re, [2000] 1 S.C.R. 880; 255 N.R. 250; 191 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 181; 577 A.P.R. 181, refd to. [para. 17].

Canadian Broadcasting Corp. v. Dagenais et al., [1994] 3 S.C.R. 835; 175 N.R. 1; 76 O.A.C. 81, refd to. [para. 19].

Canadian Broadcasting Corp. v. New Brunswick (Attorney General), [1996] 3 S.C.R. 480; 203 N.R. 169; 182 N.B.R.(2d) 81; 463 A.P.R. 81, refd to. [para. 19].

R. v. Mentuck (C.G.), [2001] 3 S.C.R. 442; 277 N.R. 160; 163 Man.R.(2d) 1; 269 W.A.C. 1; 2001 SCC 76, refd to. [para. 19].

Sierra Club of Canada v. Canada (Minister of Finance) et al., [2002] 2 S.C.R. 522; 287 N.R. 203; 2002 SCC 41, refd to. [para. 19].

R. v. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. et al. (2005), 335 N.R. 201; 200 O.A.C. 348; 2005 SCC 41, refd to. [para. 21].

R. v. F.P. (1997), 160 N.S.R.(2d) 159; 473 A.P.R. 159 (S.C.), refd to. [para. 24].

Southam Inc. v. R. (1984), 14 D.L.R.(4th) 683 (Ont. H.C.), affd. (1986), 12 O.A.C. 394; 26 D.L.R.(4th) 479 (C.A.), leave to appeal refused (1986), 68 N.R. 398; 16 O.A.C. 80 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 25].

R. v. B.M. (2003), 234 Sask.R. 244; 2003 SKPC 83, refd to. [para. 27].

Quintal v. R. et al. (2003), 335 A.R. 14; 2003 ABPC 79, refd to. [para. 60].

R. v. J.W.V., 2003 BCPC 234, dist. [para. 66].

R. v. A.A.B. (2006), 244 N.S.R.(2d) 90; 774 A.P.R. 90; 2006 NSPC 16, dist. [para. 67].

Halifax Herald Ltd. v. Sparks, J.F.C. (1995), 142 N.S.R.(2d) 321; 407 A.P.R. 321 (S.C.), dist. [para. 67].

Statutes Noticed:

Youth Criminal Justice Act, S.C. 2002, c. 1, sect. 19 [para. 8]; sect. 41 [para. 11]; sect. 132 [para. 13].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Bala, Nicholas, Youth Criminal Justice Law (2003), p. 428 [para. 31].

Counsel:

Gary Holt, for the Crown;

Megan Longley, for the defendant;

Peter McVey, for the Department of Community Services;

Nancy Rubin, for the Chronicle Herald;

Alan Parish, for the Daily News.

This matter was heard at Halifax, Nova Scotia on December 5, 2006, before Williams, P.C.J., of the Nova Scotia Youth Justice Court, who delivered the following decision orally on December 8, 2006.