The Daily, Thursday, March 21, 2002. Youth court statistics

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Youth court statistics

The caseload involving young people aged 12 to 17 in youth courts continues to decline, the result of a substantial decrease in cases involving property crime, according to the Youth Court Survey.

Youth courts heard 99,590 cases in the fiscal year 2000/01, down 10% from 1996/97. During this period, the number of cases involving property crimes declined 23% to 40,023 and those involving violent crimes declined 6% to 21,760.

Property crime accounted for 40% of all cases before youth courts, and violent crime accounted for 22%. About one-half of these violent crime cases consisted of common assaults, which include pushing, slapping, punching and face-to-face verbal threats. Other Criminal Code offences accounted for 18% and Young Offenders Act offences accounted for 12% of all cases.

Drug offences made up 6,967 cases, an increase of 30% from 1996/97, although they represented only 7% of the total caseload in 2000/01.

Case rates for youth courts were highest in Western Canada. Courts in Saskatchewan recorded a rate of 946 cases for every 10,000 youths, followed by Manitoba (667) and Alberta (632). All were substantially higher than the national average of 403. The lowest case rates were in Prince Edward Island (170), Quebec (182) and British Columbia (304).

Youths aged 16 and 17 accounted for larger proportions of cases in youth court - 51% in 2000/01. Those aged 15 accounted for 22%, and those aged 12 to 14, 25%.

Sixty percent of youth court cases resulted in guilty findings in 2000/01. Probation was the most serious sentence ordered in 48% of cases with guilty findings. A custody sentence (open or secure) was ordered about one-third of the time.

In 2000/01, repeat young offenders (those with at least one prior conviction) were involved in 21% of cases with convictions.

The Juristat Youth court statistics, 2000/01, Vol. 22, no. 3 (85-002-XIE, $8/$70; 85-002-XPE, $10/$93) is now available.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact the Client Services Unit (1-800-387-2231; 613-951-9023), Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.