The Supreme Court of Canada has established a standard Crown prosecutors must meet when they are seeking adult sentences for youth offenders.
The court says they must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the youth has the developmental age and capacity for moral judgment of an adult.
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Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, youth have what is known as diminished moral culpability.
The onus is on Crown prosecutors to prove that principle doesn’t apply to a specific offender.
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The Supreme Court was reviewing two Ontario cases in which youth offenders were sentenced as adults.
It upheld one of those cases and overturned the other.
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