Particular Interest

Youth or juvenile crime is a controversial issue in Canadian politics. While the fact that youth crime is quite common in Canada is lamentable, there are disagreements concerning how to treat youths in the criminal system. The controversy centres on the best approach taken to address youth offenders and the severity of punishment that should be given. This article provides a historical overview of Canadian approaches to youth justice. It outlines several stages of Canadian legislation, including the 1908 Juvenile Delinquents Act , the 1982 Young Offenders Act , and the 2003 Youth Criminal Justice Act . The Juvenile Delinquents Act (1908-1984) From “little adults” to child-centred legislation Overview of the Juvenile Delinquents Act The 1908 Juvenile Delinquents Ac t (JDA) represented a major philosophical change concerning juvenile delinquent treatment. Before 1908, children in conflict with the law were treated similar to adult criminals, often receiving harsh sentences for re...

Australians commit crimes overseas for many reasons – although not all are crimes in Australia. Legal and non-legal responses are used to counteract and prevent such crimes from happening and also to address the crimes that have already been committed. Such responses are undertaken by people or groups such as Governments, the courts, media and representatives in interviews. Khaled Sharroud and Mohamed Elomar are two recent Australians who have been involved in illegal overseas activity through participation with ISIS (a group classified as a terrorist organisation in Australia). By associating with this terrorist organisation – as well as suspicion of them fighting on ISIS’s behalf – they have committed a crime both in Australia and as well as in Iraq and Syria. To address this issue of Australians committing terrorist offences overseas the Government has used representatives in interviews through the media as part of their non-legal responses. Attorney General George Brandis ...