Ontario. Juvenile and Family Courts

Identity area

Type of entity

Higher-level Ontario government office (type B)

Authorized form of name

Ontario. Juvenile and Family Courts

Parallel form(s) of name

    Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

    • Juvenile and Family Courts

    Other form(s) of name

      Identifiers for corporate bodies

      Description area

      Dates of existence

      1910-1968

      History

      The Juvenile Delinquents Act of 1908, a federal statute, provided for the option of local counties or districts within Ontario to establish Juvenile Courts. In 1910, an Ontario statute was passed proclaiming that County or District Court Judges' Criminal Courts and Police Magistrates, constituted a Juvenile Court in those areas in which the local authorities had proclaimed the Juvenile Delinquents Act to be in effect.

      The Act of 1910 was repealed in 1916, with the passing of the Juvenile Courts Act, which provided for the establishment of specific juvenile courts in those cities, towns, and counties where the Juvenile Delinquents Act had been, or would be, proclaimed. With this act, judges of the juvenile courts were to be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. Justices of the Peace could also preside over a juvenile court, upon the written request of the Attorney General.

      A new Juvenile Courts Act was passed in 1927, which in essence, consolidated the existing legislation covering the Juvenile Courts. The Act was renamed the Juvenile and Family Courts Act, in 1934, with provisions allowing for the change of the name of a "juvenile court" to that of a "family court" under certain circumstances. With an Act, passed in 1954, however, all "juvenile" and "family" courts in the province were renamed "Juvenile and Family Courts".

      In 1968, the Juvenile and Family Courts were replaced with the Provincial Courts (Family Division).

      Places

      Legal status

      Functions, occupations and activities

      Juvenile and Family Courts had jurisdiction over the enforcement of criminal matters, as well as powers under several Ontario statutes such as the Training Schools Act, Deserted Wives and Children's Maintenance Act, and the Child Welfare Act.

      Address

      An Act respecting Juvenile Courts, Statutes of Ontario 1910, Chap. 96

      Juvenile Courts Act, Statutes of Ontario 1916, Chap. 54

      Juvenile Courts Act, Statutes of Ontario 1927, Chap. 33

      Juvenile and Family Courts Act, Statutes of Ontario 1934, Chap. 25

      Juvenile and Family Courts Act, Statutes of Ontario 1954, Chap. 41

      Internal structures/genealogy

      General context

      Relationships area

      Related entity

      Ontario. Provincial Court. Family Division (1968-1989)

      Identifier of related entity

      BA55

      Category of relationship

      temporal

      Type of relationship

      Ontario. Provincial Court. Family Division is the successor of Ontario. Juvenile and Family Courts

      Dates of relationship

      Description of relationship

      Access points area

      Subject access points

      Place access points

      Epithet

      Control area

      Authority record identifier

      BA54

      Institution identifier

      Rules and/or conventions used

      RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)

      Status

      Approved

      Level of detail

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

      Language(s)

        Script(s)

          Sources

          Banks, Margaret A. Evolution of the Ontario Courts, 1788-1981 (1983)

          Zuber, The Honourable T.G. Report of the Ontario Courts Inquiry (1987)

          Canadiana Name Authorities, 1996-12-24

          Maintenance notes

          Archivist(s):
          R. Anger