P-34 - Youth Protection Act

Section 32 Disposition versions

1977-12-31

32. (1)  When a child is particularly exposed to moral or physical dangers, by reason of its environment or other special circumstances, and for such reasons needs to be protected, any person in authority may bring him or have him brought before a judge. A judge may also, upon information which he deems serious, to the effect that a child is in the above described conditions, order that he brought before him.

Without limiting the generality of the provisions of the preceding paragraph, children whose parents, tutors or guardians are deemed unworthy, orphans with neither father nor mother and cared for by nobody, abandoned illegitimate or adulterine children, those particularly exposed to delinquency by their environment, unmanageable children generally showing pre-delinquency traits, as well as those exhibiting serious character disturbances, may be considered as being in the conditions contemplated by the preceding paragraph.

Throughout the pendency of the case, the judge, in case of urgency, may take for the benefit of the child such provisional protective measures as he may deem useful by confiding the child to any person, home, society, reception centre or institution capable or receiving him temporarily.

The judge may also, whenever he deems it expedient, issue an order to bring or have brought before him any child whose case is pending before the court.

The judge shall make an inquiry, in judicial form, into the particular circumstances in which the child is situated.

Notice in writing of such inquiry and of the time and place when and where it will be held must be served on the father and mother or one of them, on the tutor or on those having custody of the child; the latter shall have the right to be heard and to submit any proof which the judge deems relevant.

(2)  The judge may then, according to circumstances and after consultation, if need be, with a social agency, leave the child at liberty under supervision, confide him to any person or society, recommend to the Minister that he be entrusted to a school, to a public charitable institution or to a social agency, or take any other decision in the interest of the child.

Furthermore, notwithstanding any legislative provision inconsistent with this act, the judge may, upon application by a person in authority and in the best interest of the child, amend or subsequently annul the recommendation or order made by him, in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

When the judge feels obliged to make a recommendation to the Minister, he shall send him, in duplicate, a report giving his reasons therefor. He shall transmit to him at the same time two certified copies of the report of the social inquiry and a copy of the child’s act of birth, if he has been able to obtain it; if not, he shall indicate the age of the child as he may be able to establish it by other evidence or by his apparent age.

When, under the provisions of this section, the judge recommends that the child be entrusted to a public charitable institution or social agency, the provisions of this act shall apply to such child, save that the costs of custody of the child shall then be paid and apportioned in accordance with the Act respecting health services and social services (chapter S-5).

The judge shall determine, according to the evidence adduced before him, the place where the child is domiciled and shall mention it in his report to the Minister; he may subsequently revise, upon petition presented to him for the purpose, such designation of domicile or determine the same if he was unable to do so in the first place, and he must then make a new report to the Minister accordingly.

R. S. 1964, c. 220, s. 15 (part); 1971, c. 48, s. 160.