Canadian Broadcasting Corporation v Ontario, 2023 ONSC 4348
Eight girls were arrested and charged with second-degree murder in relation to the death of a man in downtown Toronto in December 2022. There was and continues to be a lot of media interest in, and coverage of, the case. A number of media outlets and journalists requested access to the full, unredacted youth court files of all eight young people. The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA)protects the privacy of young people in many ways, including limiting the people who can access youth court files. The Youth Court Judge gave the media partial access to the records of the young people, redacting some personal identifying information, to allow ongoing coverage and accurate reporting of the case, while protecting the privacy of the young people.
The media outlets applied to the Superior Court for a review of the decision, alleging that the Youth Court had erred, and again seeking access to all the records. They also asked that parts of the YCJA be declared unconstitutional. JFCY was retained by the lawyers on behalf of several of the girls to represent them with respect to the youth records issue. The reviewing Court upheld the decision of the Youth Court, and refused to hear the constitutional application, finding that the appeal court was not the appropriate forum to hear the challenge and that it did not have the evidence it needed to consider the issues.
Superior Court of Justice Decision
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation et al v His Majesty the King and Young Persons 1-8, (Court of Appeal for Ontario)
The media outlets appealed the decision of the Superior Court to the Court of Appeal for Ontario. JFCY was again retained by the lawyers for six of the eight girls on the appeal. JFCY argued the reviewing Judge properly applied the law, which restricts access to the identifying and personal information of the young people except as authorized by the YCJA and that it had the power to decide whether to hear the constitutional question or not. The hearing was held June 11, 2024 and the Court of appeal reserved its decision. We are waiting for the decision.
