The Youth Justice Court of Nunavut (YJCN) is a branch of the single-level trial court system of Nunavut. This is a special court charged with hearing matters related to young persons between the ages of 12 and 18 years who have been charged with Canadian Criminal Code offences (CCC). In all instances, the particular court that hears the case is designated as the "Youth Justice Court" and the presiding judge is deemed to be a "Youth Justice Court Judge".

The six judges of the Nunavut Courts sit on the YJCN as well as certain JP’s appointed under the Youth Court Jurisdiction Regulations.

The YCJN is designated pursuant to the Youth Criminal Justice Act (Canada), Judicature Act, SNWT (Nu) 1998, c 34 s 1,as enacted for Nunavut, pursuant to the Nunavut Act, S.C. 1993, c. 28, and the Youth Court Jurisdiction Regulations, Nu Reg 004-2002 enabled under the Justices of the Peace Act, SNWT (Nu) 1998, c 34 s 2, as enacted for Nunavut, pursuant to the Nunavut Act, S.C. 1993, c. 28.

The YJCN is intended to promote the long-term protection of the public by preventing crime through addressing the circumstances underlying a young person’s behaviour, rehabilitating young persons who commit offences and reintegrating them into society, and ensuring meaningful consequences for offences.

Young persons have the right to be heard and participate in this process. Parents also play an important role: they are informed of the proceedings and are encouraged to support their children as they address their offending behaviour.

Decisions of the YJCN are published online in English only (at this time) at www.canlii.org – you can find  published decisions of the Youth Justice Court of Nunavut by clicking the Decisions tab on this page.

*Until 2011, all youth decisions were published as decisions of the Nunavut Court of Justice. If you are looking for an older decision related to a youth, then you will need to look at the published decisions of the Nunavut Court of Justice.