In this guide, you will find information and resources about criminal law as it pertains specifically to youth.
Texts
- Annotated Youth Criminal Justice Act service, 2nd ed. Table of Contents.
- A guide to the Youth Criminal Justice Act by Lee Tustin Table of Contents.
- Prosecuting and defending youth criminal justice cases (available online), 3rd ed. by Justice Brock Jones et al. Table of Contents
- Youth and the criminal law in Canada, 2nd ed. by Sherri Davis-Barron Table of Contents
- Youth and the law, 5th ed. by Susan Reid & Rebecca Bromwich Table of Contents.
- Youth Criminal Justice Act manual (available online), by Peter J. Harris & Miriam H. Bloomenfeld Table of Contents.
Commentary and digests are provided on sentencing principles and the sanctions possible under the YCJA. Also included are digests organized by offence. - Youth criminal justice law (available online), 3rd ed. by Nicholas Bala & Sanjeev Anand Table of Contents.
Last revised June 19, 2025
Case Law
For more information on finding cases see our research guide: Finding and researching cases.
A collection of the judgments of the Alberta Courts is available from CanLII. The official version of the reasons for judgment is the signed original or handwritten endorsement in the court file. If there is a question about the content of a judgment, the original court file takes precedence.
The Canadian abridgment available on: Westlaw Edge
All Canadian summaries, Canadian case summaries and Canada digest are available on: LexisAdvance® Quicklaw®
Legislation
Youth Justice Act, RSA 2000, c Y-1
To access or purchase the official version, go to: Alberta King’s Printer
- Canada Evidence Act, RSC 1985, c C-5
- Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46
- Youth Criminal Justice Act, SC 2002, c 1
Federal Acts and Regulations can be found electronically at:
Encyclopedias
Canadian encyclopedic digest (C.E.D.) (Western), (available online) 4th ed.
Sections related to Criminal Law – Youth include:
- Youth Criminal Justice.
The CED provides discussion of these areas of law with annotations to legislation and case law. Additional information may be found by searching the indexes or database using the keywords “Youth”, “Young Offender”, “young person”, “child” etc.
Halsbury’s laws of Canada (available online) is a multi-volume set which includes coverage of Federal, Provincial & Territorial legislation.
Titles related to Criminal Law – Youth include:
Additional information may be found under other topical headings.
Journals
- Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice (available online)
- Criminal Law Quarterly (available online)
- For the Defence (available online) – Criminal Lawyers’ Association Newsletter
Indexes
- The Canadian abridgment : index to Canadian legal literature (ICLL) (available online)
- Current index to legal periodicals (CILP) (available online)
Additional full-text articles are available electronically through:
- Canlii – commentary – contains books, articles and reports.
- HeinOnline – provides full-text access to Canadian and international law reviews and legal journals.
- Lexis Advance® Quicklaw®
- vLex Justis
- Westlaw Edge – contains a collection of Canadian journals and law reviews, as well as all articles and case comments appearing in Carswell law reports.
For more information on looking for journal articles see our research guide Finding journal articles, conference materials & theses
Websites
- Calgary Youth Justice Society
- Youth Court – Calgary Legal Guidance
- Red Deer Youth Justice Committee
- Legal Aid Alberta ( Youth Criminal Law)
- Youth and the Law in Alberta (FAQ’s)
Last revised March 21, 2024
- Department of Justice (Youth Justice)
- Law Central Alberta Select “Browse Legal Topics” under Features. Click on “Youth criminal justice” under the “Criminal Justice” heading.
Disclaimer: As law librarians, we are pleased to provide you this resource for information and research purposes only – It is not a substitute for professional legal advice. We strive to bring you quality and current information in this resource, but we make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, accessibility, adequacy, or completeness of the information presented here. The sources featured are selected based on professional assessment and opinion, and do not constitute an endorsement, editorial, review, or guarantee.