The Issues Continued

Young Offenders

How young offenders are dealt with in the criminal justice system has been a hotly debated topic for many years. From 1984 to 2002, the legislation governing the treatment of youthful offenders was the Young Offenders Act - a statue that came under a great deal of fire, largely because many people felt it treated young criminals too leniently.
In 2002, the Young Offenders Act was replaced with the Youth Criminal Justice Act in an attempt to answer some of the criticisms that had been leveled against its predecessor. Since that time, there have been fewer complaints from the public, but by no means is everybody happy with every aspect of the new statute.

Capital Punishment

Canada's criminal justice system has no death penalty. It was abolished by Parliament in 1975, but the vote was close and some Canadians would like to see a return of capital punishment at least for certain crimes - such as premeditated murder or killing a police officer on duty.

Other Issues

There are, of course, many other controversial areas in the field of criminal law. Prison reform, repeat offenders, the availability of legal aid in Alberta, police brutality and police racism, organized crime - the list seems to go on and on.