On May 6th, the Ontario Bar Association’s Child and Youth Law and Young Lawyers Division hosted a professional development webinar featuring updates on pressing issues in child protection law.
As part of a panel on “Privacy Records in Child Welfare”, Sam Wisnicki of the Office of the Children’s Lawyer presented an overview of the rules governing access to youth criminal justice records and information and their application to child protection proceedings.
Part 6 of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, SC 2002, c.1 (“YCJA”) sets out the comprehensive rules surrounding when and how a young person’s YCJA information and records may be used outside of the youth justice system and beyond the purpose for which it was collected. Section 118(1) of the YCJA prohibits access to youth justice records and information that could identify a young person unless it is explicitly authorized by the YCJA. Section 119 provides a list of those who can access YCJA records during an open access period and the time period for such access. Once the access period expires, records regarding a young person are sealed or destroyed and cannot be disclosed unless ordered by a Youth Court judge under section 123(1) of the YCJA. Section 129 prohibits any person who is given access to a record or to whom information is disclosed under the YCJA from disclosing that information to any other person unless the disclosure is authorized under the Act.