The Supreme Court of Canada has established a standard crown prosecutors when they are looking for adult sentences for young criminals.
The court says that they should prove beyond a proper doubt that the youth have the age and ability of development for an adult’s moral decision.
Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the youth have the one known as a low moral defect.
It is on the crown prosecutors to prove that theory does not apply to a specific criminal.
The Supreme Court was reviewing two Ontario cases in which young criminals were sentenced as adults.
It retained one of those cases and overturned the other.