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Bill C-3: Youth Criminal Justice Act changes the rules of publication of the identity of young accused, victims, and witnesses

An early federal election ended parliamentary consideration of Bill C-3: The Youth Criminal Justice Act before the House of Commons. The Bill would have revamped publicity provisions dealing with youths involved in prosecutions. The Minister tabled amendments which responded to media representations, though they left a lot to be desired. They clarified that there was to be a publication ban on a young person's identity until that person has been convicted and sentenced, no matter what the age or crime. This is quite a departure from today's practice, where once a young person in serious cases is transferred to adult court, that person's identity can be published and the community can read and hear about who is on trial. The amendments also clarified that a young person and their parents, or, if the young person is no longer living, just the parents can agree to identification of the young person. On the latter point, the media took the position that no permission should be required to identify a person for whom funerals are held and in respect of whom history may be written.

Ad IDEM had joined the Canadian Newspaper Association in writing the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights and the Minister of Justice to support CBC's submission (en francais)to permit greater identification of youths charged with offences for which they could potentially receive adult sentences. The government proposed that publication of who is on trial in such offences wait for a conviction.

There were a number of other provisions affecting publication in Bill C-3.

The Bill cleared Committee in the House on September 20, 2000. See the last version of Bill C-3.