NCJ Number
104908
Date Published
1986
Length
35 pages
Annotation
In 1985, the maximum age for juveniles in Canada under the Young Offenders Act became 18. With the exception of Quebec and Manitoba there will be a major increase in the number of juveniles handled by the juvenile justice system and since more of these juveniles will be considered serious offenders, much concern has been expressed over the ability to institutionalize those juveniles seen as dangerous.
Abstract
The authors raise the question of the necessity of using closed facilities as extensively as in the past. In France, the juvenile justice system must deal with problems that are comparable in difficulty to those faced in Canada, yet the French use closed custody for juveniles less frequently than jurisdictions in North America. This paper attempts to show how the French system makes extensive efforts to avoid the use of closed custody and presents comparisons of the juvenile justice system in Creteil, on the periphery of Paris, and the province of Alberta. It is revealed that the logic of the French judge differs from that of his North American counterpart in that closed custody is reserved for the commission of crimes, but not for failure to comply with administrative decisions. 18 references. (Author abstract modified)