Canadian Youth Court and Adult Criminal Court Statistics, 2006/2007

Statistics Canada just released its youth court and adult criminal court statistics for 2006/2007. Key findings:

Youth court:

• Fewer young people have been appearing before a judge since the enactment of the Youth Criminal Justice Act in April 2003, and fewer are being sent to custody.
• The youth court caseload has declined in every province and territory since the introduction of the Act.
• The proportion of cases in which young people either pleaded guilty, or were found guilty, has been gradually declining.

Adult criminal court:

• Cases in adult criminal courts are taking longer to complete.
• Fewer cases are being disposed of in adult criminal court each year.
• Nearly half of the cases completed in 2006/2007 involved crimes against the person and crimes against property.