FEWER YOUTHS IN TROUBLE WITH THE LAW

The number of young people in trouble with the law continues to drop
and significantly fewer youths are being incarcerated or put on
probation as a result of a focus on rehabilitation rather than
punishment, says Statistics Canada.

The agency's latest report on youth custody, released yesterday, shows
a 12-per-cent dip in the incarceration, remand and probation rate in
2004-05, on the heels of another significant decline in 2003-04.

The plummeting detention rate is a result of the four-year-old Youth
Criminal Justice Act, governing youths aged 12 to 17, said Statistics
Canada analyst Donna Calverley. "One of the main focuses of the YCJA
was to get them out of jail," she said.

The new act instructs police to lay fewer charges and judges to impose
incarceration as a last resort for all but the most serious young offenders.

On any given day in 2004-05, there were about 13,100 young persons in
detention centres or on probation, reported Statistics Canada. The
bulk of the 12-per-cent decrease over the previous year is attributed
to a 20-per-cent drop in the number of youths on probation.

The 2003 Youth Criminal Justice Act replaced the former young
offenders act, which the then Liberal government scrapped because it
said young Canadians were being incarcerated at a significantly higher
rate than youths in most other western countries. As soon as the new
law took effect, there was a dramatic drop in incarceration.

The Conservative government is planning to introduce legislation this
spring to toughen the act, saying it lets young people off the hook
too easily. While the current act requires judges to stress
rehabilitation and reintegration, the Conservatives have said in the
past that denunciation and deterrence should be guiding principles.