US EditionSupreme Court sets standard for prosecutors seeking adult sentences for youth
CANADA, JUL 18 – The Supreme Court upheld a 40-year sentence for Nikolić and requires Crown prosecutors to prove youth offenders possess adult moral capacity beyond reasonable doubt.
- On July 18, 2025, the Supreme Court of Canada delivered two rulings that clarified the criteria prosecutors must meet when requesting adult penalties for young individuals involved in Ontario criminal cases.
- The rulings stem from the legal principle that youth have diminished moral blameworthiness and prosecutors must prove beyond reasonable doubt youths have adult moral capacity.
- The Court upheld one adult sentence for first-degree murder by youth S.B. but overturned another for 17-year-old I.M., who was involved in a fatal beating and stabbing.
- Justice Kasirer authored the majority opinion, holding that the prosecution bears the burden of definitively establishing that a young offender is not entitled to the legal presumption of reduced responsibility due to their age.
- These decisions reinforce Canada's youth justice philosophy favoring second chances and rehabilitation instead of harsh adult sentencing for young offenders.
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Winnipeg Free Press+9 Reposted by 9 other sources
Supreme Court sets standard for prosecutors seeking adult sentences for youth
Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada
·Winnipeg, Canada
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The Supreme Court of Canada has set a standard that Crown prosecutors will have to meet when they require adult sentences for young offenders
·Saint-Georges, Canada
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Supreme Court of Canada Upholds Protections for Youth in Sentencing - BC Civil Liberties Association
Ottawa, ON (unceded Algonquin Anishinaabeg traditional territory) – The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) celebrates today’s decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada in R v IM and R v SB. These decisions reaffirm the principle that young people should not be punished as harshly as adults other than in exceptional circumstances. When a young person under 18 is convicted of a crime, they are usually sentenced based on special rules set for yo…
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Total News Sources13
Leaning Left7Leaning Right0Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution64% Left
Bias Distribution
- 64% of the sources lean Left
64% Left
L 64%
C 36%
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