Criminal law

Youth Court

What is the purpose of a court appearance?

The “appearance” is the first step in legal proceedings. This is when the adolescent tells the judge whether she is pleading guilty or not guilty to the alleged offence. In other words, the appearance allows the young person to tell the judge her answer to the charges. To learn more, see the Infosheet entitled Admitting or Denying Your Guilt
Admitting or Denying Your Guilt.

What happens at the appearance?

An appearance generally occurs before a youth court judge in a courtroom at the courthouse. It is rare for a young person to appear alone before the judge. Normally, she is accompanied by her lawyer, and her parents are present. The appearance doesn’t take very long, usually just a few minutes.

The names of all the adolescents who are scheduled to appear are printed on a list called the “roll”. The clerk, who is a kind of courtroom assistant for the judge, calls each name on the list. When her name is called, the adolescent stands in front of the judge, and the clerk reads the “information”, which is a document describing the charges against her.

After reading the charges, the clerk asks the adolescent how she would like to respond to them. She can either plead guilty or not guilty. If she pleads guilty, the next step will be sentencing. But if she pleads not guilty, a trial will take place to determine whether she is guilty of the charges.

When does the appearance before the court take place?

The time between the alleged offence and the appearance can vary. If the young person is arrested and then released by the police, her appearance will probably happen within a few days of the alleged offence.

If the adolescent is arrested and held, her first appearance will take place within 24 hours so that a judge can decide whether to release her. The appearance to plead guilty or not guilty takes place several days later.

If you would like to learn more about situations in which a judge will release an adolescent pending an appearance or trial, read the Infosheets
Find Out More About Arrests and Conditions of Release.

When the police release a young person, how do they make sure she will show up for court?

If the police release an adolescent but still plan to charge her, they give her a document telling her the exact date and time of her court appearance. Depending on the situation, this document might be an Appearance Notice or a Promise to Appear, which can include an undertaking to respect certain conditions. The adolescent might also receive a summons in the mail telling her when she must appear.

Even if she receives one of these documents, Sophie might still be tempted, for a lot of different reasons, not to show up for her appearance. But skipping the appearance is an offence. If Sophie doesn’t show up to court, a judge can issue a warrant for her arrest. This means that a police officer can arrest her at any time after the warrant has been issued. She might even be detained until she has to appear before the judge – to make sure she doesn’t disappear again!

Also, if she leaves the jurisdiction (the geographic area of a court’s authority), she can be charged with the offence of breaking a condition of her release.

What rights does an adolescent have when she appears before a judge?

• The right to be represented by a lawyer

When she appears before the court to enter her plea, an adolescent has the right to be represented by a lawyer, free of charge. In fact, this right exists from the moment of her arrest.

On the day of her appearance, the judge will remind her of this right and allow her to find a lawyer if she doesn’t have one. If the adolescent doesn't have a lawyer and the judge thinks she doesn't understands the charges, the sentence that would apply if she pleads guilty, or the appearance process, he must appoint a lawyer to represent her. This usually happens whenever an adolescent pleads guilty to the charges and the judge feels she doesn’t fully understand the consequences of her decision.

• The right to have the charges read aloud

After the charges are read, the adolescent can ask for an explanation. This explanation must be suitable for her age and capacity to understand. If the adolescent has a lawyer and the lawyer tells the judge that he has explained the charges to her, the adolescent can waive the reading of the charges.

Is there anything left to do after the appearance?

Absolutely! The appearance is just the beginning of proceedings in youth court.

• If the adolescent pleads guilty

In this case, a date will be set for her to return to court for sentencing.

• If the adolescent pleads not guilty

The judge and lawyers set a date by which the police must share any evidence regarding the offence with the lawyer for the adolescent. The file might be heard several times by the court before a trial date is finally set. When the trial date rolls around, the adolescent’s lawyer returns before the court to argue the case.