Youth Criminal Justice Act (S.C. 2002, c. 1)

Access to Records

Marginal note:Exception — adult sentence

117. Sections 118 to 129 do not apply to records kept in respect of an offence for which an adult sentence has been imposed once the time allowed for the taking of an appeal has expired or, if an appeal is taken, all proceedings in respect of the appeal have been completed and the appeal court has upheld an adult sentence. The record shall be dealt with as a record of an adult and, for the purposes of the Criminal Records Act, the finding of guilt in respect of the offence for which the record is kept is deemed to be a conviction.

Marginal note:No access unless authorized

• 118. (1) Except as authorized or required by this Act, no person shall be given access to a record kept under sections 114 to 116, and no information contained in it may be given to any person, where to do so would identify the young person to whom it relates as a young person dealt with under this Act.

• Marginal note:Exception for employees

  (2) No person who is employed in keeping or maintaining records referred to in subsection (1) is restricted from doing anything prohibited under subsection (1) with respect to any other person so employed.

Marginal note:Persons having access to records

• 119. (1) Subject to subsections (4) to (6), from the date that a record is created until the end of the applicable period set out in subsection (2), the following persons, on request, shall be given access to a record kept under section 114, and may be given access to a record kept under sections 115 and 116:

  • (a) the young person to whom the record relates;

  • (b) the young person’s counsel, or any representative of that counsel;

  • (c) the Attorney General;

  • (d) the victim of the offence or alleged offence to which the record relates;

  • (e) the parents of the young person, during the course of any proceedings relating to the offence or alleged offence to which the record relates or during the term of any youth sentence made in respect of the offence;

  • (f) any adult assisting the young person under subsection 25(7), during the course of any proceedings relating to the offence or alleged offence to which the record relates or during the term of any youth sentence made in respect of the offence;

  • (g) any peace officer for

    • (i) law enforcement purposes, or

    • (ii) any purpose related to the administration of the case to which the record relates, during the course of proceedings against the young person or the term of the youth sentence;

  • (h) a judge, court or review board, for any purpose relating to proceedings against the young person, or proceedings against the person after he or she becomes an adult, in respect of offences committed or alleged to have been committed by that person;

  • (i) the provincial director, or the director of the provincial correctional facility for adults or the penitentiary at which the young person is serving a sentence;

  • (j) a person participating in a conference or in the administration of extrajudicial measures, if required for the administration of the case to which the record relates;

  • (k) a person acting as ombudsman, privacy commissioner or information commissioner, whatever his or her official designation might be, who in the course of his or her duties under an Act of Parliament or the legislature of a province is investigating a complaint to which the record relates;

  • (l) a coroner or a person acting as a child advocate, whatever his or her official designation might be, who is acting in the course of his or her duties under an Act of Parliament or the legislature of a province;

  • (m) a person acting under the Firearms Act;

  • (n) a member of a department or agency of a government in Canada, or of an organization that is an agent of, or under contract with, the department or agency, who is

    • (i) acting in the exercise of his or her duties under this Act,

    • (ii) engaged in the supervision or care of the young person, whether as a young person or an adult, or in an investigation related to the young person under an Act of the legislature of a province respecting child welfare,

    • (iii) considering an application for conditional release or pardon made by the young person, whether as a young person or an adult,

    • (iv) administering a prohibition order made under an Act of Parliament or the legislature of a province, or

    • (v) administering a youth sentence, if the young person has been committed to custody and is serving the custody in a provincial correctional facility for adults or a penitentiary;

  • (o) a person, for the purpose of carrying out a criminal record check required by the Government of Canada or the government of a province or a municipality for purposes of employment or the performance of services, with or without remuneration;

  • (p) an employee or agent of the Government of Canada, for statistical purposes under the Statistics Act;

  • (q) an accused or his or her counsel who swears an affidavit to the effect that access to the record is necessary to make a full answer and defence;

  • (r) a person or a member of a class of persons designated by order of the Governor in Council, or the lieutenant governor in council of the appropriate province, for a purpose and to the extent specified in the order; and

  • (s) any person or member of a class of persons that a youth justice court judge considers has a valid interest in the record, to the extent directed by the judge, if the judge is satisfied that access to the record is

    • (i) desirable in the public interest for research or statistical purposes, or

    • (ii) desirable in the interest of the proper administration of justice.

• Marginal note:Period of access

  (2) The period of access referred to in subsection (1) is

  • (a) if an extrajudicial sanction is used to deal with the young person, the period ending two years after the young person consents to be subject to the sanction in accordance with paragraph 10(2)(c);

  • (b) if the young person is acquitted of the offence otherwise than by reason of a verdict of not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder, the period ending two months after the expiry of the time allowed for the taking of an appeal or, if an appeal is taken, the period ending three months after all proceedings in respect of the appeal have been completed;

  • (c) if the charge against the young person is dismissed for any reason other than acquittal, the charge is withdrawn, or the young person is found guilty of the offence and a reprimand is given, the period ending two months after the dismissal, withdrawal, or finding of guilt;

  • (d) if the charge against the young person is stayed, with no proceedings being taken against the young person for a period of one year, at the end of that period;

  • (e) if the young person is found guilty of the offence and the youth sentence is an absolute discharge, the period ending one year after the young person is found guilty;

  • (f) if the young person is found guilty of the offence and the youth sentence is a conditional discharge, the period ending three years after the young person is found guilty;

  • (g) subject to paragraphs (i) and (j) and subsection (9), if the young person is found guilty of the offence and it is a summary conviction offence, the period ending three years after the youth sentence imposed in respect of the offence has been completed;

  • (h) subject to paragraphs (i) and (j) and subsection (9), if the young person is found guilty of the offence and it is an indictable offence, the period ending five years after the youth sentence imposed in respect of the offence has been completed;

  • (i) subject to subsection (9), if, during the period calculated in accordance with paragraph (g) or (h), the young person is found guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction committed when he or she was a young person, the latest of

    • (i) the period calculated in accordance with paragraph (g) or (h), as the case may be, and

    • (ii) the period ending three years after the youth sentence imposed for that offence has been completed; and

  • (j) subject to subsection (9), if, during the period calculated in accordance with paragraph (g) or (h), the young person is found guilty of an indictable offence committed when he or she was a young person, the period ending five years after the sentence imposed for that indictable offence has been completed.

• Marginal note:Prohibition orders not included

  (3) Prohibition orders made under an Act of Parliament or the legislature of a province, including any order made under section 51, shall not be taken into account in determining any period referred to in subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Extrajudicial measures

  (4) Access to a record kept under section 115 or 116 in respect of extrajudicial measures, other than extrajudicial sanctions, used in respect of a young person shall be given only to the following persons for the following purposes:

  • (a) a peace officer or the Attorney General, in order to make a decision whether to again use extrajudicial measures in respect of the young person;

  • (b) a person participating in a conference, in order to decide on the appropriate extrajudicial measure;

  • (c) a peace officer, the Attorney General or a person participating in a conference, if access is required for the administration of the case to which the record relates; and

  • (d) a peace officer for the purpose of investigating an offence.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (5) When a youth justice court has withheld all or part of a report from any person under subsection 34(9) or (10) (nondisclosure of medical or psychological report) or 40(7) (nondisclosure of pre-sentence report), that person shall not be given access under subsection (1) to that report or part.

• Marginal note:Records of assessments or forensic DNA analysis

  (6) Access to a report made under section 34 (medical and psychological reports) or a record of the results of forensic DNA analysis of a bodily substance taken from a young person in execution of a warrant issued under section 487.05 of the Criminal Code may be given only under paragraphs (1)(a) to (c), (e) to (h) and (q) and subparagraph (1)(s)(ii).

• Marginal note:Introduction into evidence

  (7) Nothing in paragraph (1)(h) or (q) authorizes the introduction into evidence of any part of a record that would not otherwise be admissible in evidence.

• Marginal note:Disclosures for research or statistical purposes

  (8) When access to a record is given to a person under paragraph (1)(p) or subparagraph (1)(s)(i), the person may subsequently disclose information contained in the record, but shall not disclose the information in any form that would reasonably be expected to identify the young person to whom it relates.

• Marginal note:Application of usual rules

  (9) If, during the period of access to a record under any of paragraphs (2)(g) to (j), the young person is convicted of an offence committed when he or she is an adult,

  • (a) section 82 (effect of absolute discharge or termination of youth sentence) does not apply to the young person in respect of the offence for which the record is kept under sections 114 to 116;

  • (b) this Part no longer applies to the record and the record shall be dealt with as a record of an adult; and

  • (c) for the purposes of the Criminal Records Act, the finding of guilt in respect of the offence for which the record is kept is deemed to be a conviction.

• Marginal note:Records of offences that result in a prohibition order

  (10) Despite anything in this Act, when a young person is found guilty of an offence that results in a prohibition order being made, and the order is still in force at the end of the applicable period for which access to a record kept in respect of the order may be given under subsection (2),

  • (a) the record kept by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police pursuant to subsection 115(3) may be disclosed only to establish the existence of the order for purposes of law enforcement; and

  • (b) the record referred to in section 114 that is kept by the youth justice court may be disclosed only to establish the existence of the order in any offence involving a breach of the order.