Ministers Meet to Discuss Youth Criminal Justice Act Amendments

Nova Scotia Justice Minister Murray Scott said he is looking forward to improvements to the Youth Criminal Justice Act after a meeting today, Oct. 9, with Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson.

"Our discussions today have made me optimistic that changes are on the way that will make the YCJA a stronger act," said Mr. Scott. "For some time, I have been presenting the concerns of Nova Scotians that we need more deterrence and flexibility within the act to better protect the public and serve young people in conflict with the law."

Nova Scotia has been calling for changes that would address the need to deal with a small number of youth who are a risk to themselves and the public. In particular, Mr. Scott is calling for changes that will give the courts options for detaining a youth before trial and for considering deterrence as a reason for keeping a young person in custody.

"We have taken steps as a province to address youth crime, including adding more police, creating new youth-attendance-centre and youth bail-supervision programs," said Mr. Scott. "Today's discussions with Mr. Nicholson demonstrate progress at the federal level, and I look forward to seeing on-going improvements."