The act was passed to address juvenile justice issues and deal with juvenile crime, recognizing Canada incarcerates juvenile offenders at four times the rate for adults. In 1997, 49 percent of young people were charged with property offenses, 18 percent were charged with violent offenses, 25 percent were charged for other offenses under the Criminal Code, and 4 percent were charged under drug or other Federal statutes. Key elements of a good law for juvenile offenders are that public protection and the needs of young people should be balanced, that the juvenile justice system should be able to deal with a full range of cases from the less serious to the most serious, that legal procedures should be manageable, that adequate funding should be available for appropriate programs, that the education of young people should be emphasized, that the juvenile justice system's response should be dictated by needs and not just by the nature of the offense, and that incarceration should be used as a last resort. These key elements are discussed in relation to Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act. 16 references