Recently the Supreme Court of Canada has enforced a new rule stating that interrogators of youth offenders must word questions in a way that the youth being questioned can understand. This meaning that each youth will most likely be questioned differently. The reason for this being is that not every person will understand certain things they are being told, such as their rights, the same. Factors that affect this include language and learning disabilities. The reason that this was brought up to the SCOC was due to a recent case of a boy from Nova Scotia who had been charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harmed. The boy was questioned immediately by police, however after reviewing the tape the Court was not really sure if the boy even understood the rights he had. "An individualized, objective approach must take into account the level of sophistication of the young person and other personal characteristics relevant to their understanding," says the ruling. This forces police to take into consideration the age and sophistication of youth they are questioning. In the case of the boy from Nova Scotia previous to his questioning his mother had explained to the police that her son had a learning disability and even during questioning her son relied on her to explain each question he was being asked. The interrogator does not need to contact parents or teacher but should determine the youths level of understanding on his/her own.
I believe that this will be a very effective law in Canada. I also think that alot of problems that teens face when under questioning aside from being scared is that fact that they probably do not understand everything they are being told, or questioned. I think this way will ensure the police are going to get the answers they need as well as the youth not being confused, and saying false facts. In turn this should both better the youth and police ends of the problem.
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