NCJ Number
189758
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 52 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2001 Pages: 13-24
Date Published
2001
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the methodology and findings of a study that examined the outcomes of 10 years of juvenile court appeals in one Canadian Province.
Abstract
Although appeals are relatively rare in Canada, they have significant outcomes in a juvenile justice system where dispositions are determinate and either the offender or prosecution can appeal the severity of a disposition. The study shows how appellate decisions had a significant impact on the lives of the 253 youths whose cases were heard between 1990 and 1999 in the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. In a juvenile justice environment in which protection of society has been elevated to a guiding legislative goal, and where all dispositions are determinate, appellate review has redressed errors and modified unusually punitive sanctions; however, young-offender appeals are a "double-edged sword." When prosecutors initiated an appeal, the average youth served an additional 7 months of incarceration. It is significant that the prosecution rarely loses an appeal. Young offenders, by contrast, were more likely to appeal a decision, but were not nearly as successful as the prosecution. Only one-quarter of young offenders reduced the severity of their disposition upon appeal. The study also examined data on juvenile appeals heard nationally over a 6-year period. It found a 43-percent reduction in the number of appeals heard nationally over this period. Canadian legal scholars have traced the erosion of due process rights of criminal and civil defendants to national reductions in legal aid funding. In the current punitive environment, incarcerated youths should have the ability to pursue every due process protection granted them through the appellate process. 4 tables, 1 figure, 8 notes, and 49 references