ARCHIVED - Department of Justice Canada - Report

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Minister's Message

I am pleased to report on the achievements of the Department of Justice for 2009-2010.

Over the past year, the Department has continued to fulfill its commitment to Canada's justice system - by providing effective and responsive legal advice and services to the federal government, and by ensuring that our justice system is fair, relevant and accessible.

The leadership and professionalism of numerous public servants have contributed significantly to the Department's progress in achieving its goals. As Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, I rely greatly on the Department's support as our government pursues a legislative agenda that protects Canadians and makes those who commit crimes accountable for their actions.

This support will continue as our agenda going forward strengthens our focus on the protection of law-abiding Canadians and support for victims of crime and their families.

My Department has also been instrumental in maintaining the integrity of the justice system through developing effective policies and programs, fostering cooperation with provincial and territorial partners, and serving as the trusted representative of the interests of its client departments in Crown litigation cases.

From an administrative perspective, the Department has continued to implement initiatives that improve transparency and accountability in its management structures. These initiatives will grow in importance as our government's direction shifts from economic stimulus to expenditure restraint.

This report portrays my Department's performance in ensuring that our justice system delivers justice, and in supporting the priorities of the Government of Canada. I invite you to read further for details on our progress.

The original version was signed by:
The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

SECTION I – DEPARTMENTAL OVERVIEW

Raison d'être

Responsibilities

The Department of Justice is headed by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. The responsibilities associated with the dual role of Minister of Justice and Attorney General are set out in the Department of Justice Act and some 49 other Acts of Parliament. The Department of Justice fulfils three distinctive roles within the Government of Canada, acting as:

• a policy department with broad responsibilities for overseeing all matters relating to the administration of justice that fall within the federal domain;
• a provider of a range of legal advisory, litigation and legislative services to government departments and agencies; and
• a central agency responsible for supporting the Minister in advising Cabinet on all legal matters, including the legality of government initiatives and activities.

Strategic Outcomes and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

The Department of Justice strives to attain two strategic outcomes, thereby reflecting and supporting the dual responsibilities of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. The Minister of Justice is concerned with questions of policy, particularly as these relate to his role as a steward of the Canadian justice system. The Attorney General is the chief law officer for the Crown.

The graphic representation of the Program Activity Architecture (PAA) provided on the following page presents an overview of the activities and programs for which the Department is responsible¹. In reflecting the link between these, it illustrates how such programs act to provide results for Canadians.

Department of Justice Canada Program Activity Architecture

[Description]

²

Summary of Performance

2009-10 Financial Resources (in millions of dollars)

Planned Spending	Total Authorities3	Actual Spending
$924.5	$1,065.2	$1,027.9

2009-10 Human Resources (in Full-time Equivalents - FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
4,520	4,717	197

Strategic Outcome I: A fair, relevant and accessible justice system that reflects Canadian values
Performance Indicators	Targets	2009-10 Performance
Level of confidence in the justice system Canada's relative international ranking with respect to fairness of the justice system Bills and initiatives to address justice system issues	Level of public confidence in the justice system remains stable or improves Maintain or improve Canada's high relative international ranking on justice issues Government agenda supported4	Met - Adult Criminal Justice System: 77.5% (+1.5%) Youth Criminal Justice System: 71.5% (+12.5%)5 Met - Maintained ranking in top 106 Met - 14 Bills introduced in Parliament, of which 3 received Royal Assent7

(in millions of dollars)

Program Activity	2008-09 Actual Spending	2009-108				Alignment to Government of Canada Outcome
		Main Estimates	Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
A.1 Justice, Policies, Laws and Programs	$423.6	$403.1	$431.5	$439.3	$436.4	A Safe and Secure Canada
A.2 Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime	$1.4	$1.3	$1.3	$1.4	$1.3
Total	$425.0	$404.4	$432.8	$440.7	$437.7

Strategic Outcome II: A federal government supported by effective and responsive legal services
Performance Indicators	2009-10 Performance9
Levels of effort (number of files, time) devoted to three types of legal services provided: civil litigation, advisory and legislative/regulatory drafting	Met 3,330 Legislative Files: 271,011 hours 35,125 Advisory Files: 1,438,983 hours 41,233 Litigation Files: 1,665,079 hours Total Actively Managed Files: 79,688 files Total Level of Effort Actively Managed Files: 3,375,073 hours
Risk management of litigation inventory (level of effort by risk)	Met 30% of total effort on actively managed inventory assessed as high risk (level 6, 8, 9) 41% of total effort on actively managed inventory assessed as moderate risk (level 3, 5, 7) 29% of total effort on actively managed inventory assessed as low risk (level 1, 2, 4)
Use of alternative dispute resolution to resolve disputes	Met Number of litigation files closed through: Adjudication - 9,679 (63%) Settlement - 3,827 (25%) Administratively - 1,918 (12%)

Note: All data extracted from Departmental timekeeping and case management systems

(in millions of dollars)

Program Activity	2008-09 Actual Spending	2009-1010				Alignment to Government of Canada Outcome
		Main Estimates	Planned Spending11	Total Authorities12	Actual Spending
B.1 Services to Government	$512.6	$184.5	$381.3	$509.6	$442.7	Well managed and efficient Government operations
Total	$512.6	$184.5	$381.3	$509.6	$442.7

In addition to and in support of these Strategic Outcomes, the Department allocates significant financial and human resources to Program Activity C1: Internal Services.

C.1 Internal Services (in millions of dollars)

Program Activity	2008-09 Actual Spending	2009-2010
		Main Estimates	Planned Spending	Total Authorities13	Actual Spending
C1: Internal Services14	N/A	$100.5	$110.4	$114.9	$147.5
Total		$100.5	$110.4	$114.9	$147.5

Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome(s)

Operational Priorities	Type	Status	Linkages to Strategic Outcome(s)
Develop law reform proposals in support of safe and secure communities	Previously commited to	Met all: 14 law reform bills introduced in Parliament	SO I - Fair, relevant and accessible justice system Government agenda supported through legislation, policies and program initiatives
Directly and indirectly support implementation of government priorities through the provision of high-quality legal services	Ongoing	Met all: Total number of actively managed files: 79,688 Total number of hours: 3,375,07315	SO II - Effective and responsive legal services Government agenda supported through legislative, litigation and legal advisory services
Management Priorities
Implement the Departmental Law Practice Model and transform the delivery of legal services by: creating efficiencies in the management of resources devoted to the delivery of legal services across government through closer monitoring and matching of assigned work based on legal practitioner competencies	New	Mostly met: Department has begun implementation of the Model - full implementation anticipated by end of 2011-12.	SO II - Effective and responsive legal services Department supported client departments and agencies with effective and efficient use of resources.
Improved support for law practice management across government	Ongoing	Met all - Department implemented service standards and provided tools, a process and guidance to facilitate the first year of implementation of standardized Memorandum of Understanding for the provision of legal services to other government departments and agencies and is developing enhanced tools for knowledge management, legal risk management, dispute prevention and resolution and quality assurance	SO II - Effective and responsive legal services Department supporting client departments and agencies with effective and efficient use of resources.
Renewal of our legal practitioner work force	Previously commited to	Met all - Exceeded targets for recruitment in all areas	SO I - Fair, relevant and accessible justice system SO II - Effective and responsive legal services

Risk Analysis

The Department of Justice operates in an environment where its success in achieving its Strategic Outcomes is dependent on support and commitment from partners on many fronts including those who deliver programs and services directly to Canadians. As well, most of its achievements under Strategic Outcome II are in support of other client departments and agencies. Thus, as noted in the 2009-10 Report on Plans and Priorities, there are risks specific to the achievement of each of the Department's Strategic Outcomes. Our performance in regards to our priorities illustrates to some extent how we mitigated the risks identified in the RPP. Further details are outlined in the following section.

Risks in Relation to the Provision of Legal Services

1. Recruitment and Retention

As part of its identified risk mitigation plan, and in conjunction with the integrated business planning cycle, the Department included the development and implementation of human resources and staffing plans to address specific needs with regard to legal skills and expertise at the portfolio/regional level. As a result of this process, 249 new employees were hired into the Law Group, in numbers which significantly exceeded workforce availability for women, Aboriginal Persons, persons with disabilities and visible minorities. Of those new hires, 153 were entry level counsel and 64 were articling students that were recruited and developed through the departmental Legal Excellence Program. The recruitment supported departmental renewal efforts as well as operational efficiencies and effectiveness of our legal services and policy programs.

In this vein, the Department developed a three year Employment Equity (EE) Plan (2010-13) that includes both quantitative and qualitative commitments aligned with the Public Service People Management Framework (i.e. workforce, workplace and leadership), as well as supporting the Clerk of the Privy Council's priority of renewing the workplace.

As well, numerous learning activities were offered in the area of continuing legal education to enhance the knowledge and skills of counsel. All core legal education activities became available across the country by videoconference, resulting in more than double the attendance from the previous year to over 3300 participants.

2. Rapidly evolving nature and complexity of substantive issues and priorities of Government and the associated need for legal services

As noted in the RPP, the Department is implementing its Law Practice Model (LP Model) in order to address the changing nature of its work. Over the reporting period, a number of working groups were created and mandated to explore various means to enable the Department to implement the LP Model and to identify efficiencies in the management of resources devoted to the delivery of legal services. On-going monitoring of LP Model targets showed that at fiscal year-end, the Department was at 65.4% of meeting the LA-01 target; 92.8% of the LA-2A target and 80.2% target for LA-2Bs and above¹⁶.

The Department is also incorporating practices such as gender-based analysis which helps ensure that all aspects of its work have intended and equitable results for both men and women. In November 2009, the Gender-based Analysis (GBA) Unit was created. The GBA Unit is tasked with developing tools and resources to help employees better integrate GBA into their work; developing and delivering training on the application of GBA; and providing GBA advice and guidance to all employees, especially with respect to meeting the GBA requirements set out by the Central Agencies.

Counsel in the legal services units of client departments and agencies also work closely with their clients to identify legal risks, and to jointly develop mitigation strategies. For example, counsel in the Aboriginal Affairs Portfolio developed strategic, cross-cutting and proactive approaches to support the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to facilitate resolution of outstanding claims, obtain settlement mandates, and/or mitigate legal risks and contingent liabilities with respect to a broad range of Aboriginal issues, including with respect to the scope of the Crown's duty to consult within the context of modern treaties. Another example is found in the Tax Law Services Portfolio which implemented a new settlement protocol with the Canada Revenue Agency's Appeals Branch to enable counsel to be more pro-active in early case resolution. The Portfolio also engaged in discussions with stakeholders, including tax practitioners and the court, to develop approaches to promote the expeditious settlement of cases.

3. Capacity to address the rapid changes in law practice management

In pursuit of mitigation strategies for this risk area, the Department focussed on developing and enhancing tools and systems to support effective knowledge management, legal risk management and quality assurance. One example is that the Department launched a phased project to develop performance measurement tools for Alternative Dispute Resolution initiatives. In 2009-2010 the Dispute Prevention and Resolution Division (DPRD) led a multi-disciplinary working group and conducted analysis of the federal experience in mediation by comparing results of civil litigation files in various jurisdictions regarding mandatory mediation processes. This analysis is the first phase upon which work in future years towards the development of performance measures will be based.

Risks in relation to Justice policies, laws and programs

1. Increasingly complex and interrelated nature of the issues and pressures for which Canadians rely on the justice system

As noted in our RPP, to mitigate risks in this area, the Department works closely with others, including police, the judiciary, provincial governments, and non-governmental and community based organizations to develop innovative ideas about how to improve access to justice, while respecting Canadians' diverse nature and needs. Examples of this include the Department's continued investment in the Aboriginal Courtwork Program where Aboriginal Courtworkers employed by over 20 different service delivery agencies across Canada, provided culturally appropriate services to 51,555 adults and 10, 534 youth. As well, the Department also provided funding to ten police forces to develop directories and data bases of community programs to which youth could be referred.

Expenditure Profile

As seen in the chart on the next page, Justice has experienced an increase in spending from 2007-2008 to 2009-2010. This constant growth is primarily the result of increasing demand for legal advisory, litigation and legislative services from other government departments and agencies, in addition to transfers to provinces and territories. The Department of Justice total Main Estimates include Net Voting Authority of $178.0M, which was increased to $215.0M through the Supplementary Estimates B Process, which allows Justice to spend revenues generated from the provision of Legal Services to other government Departments.

[Description]

In 2008-2009, the Department's year-over-year spending increased by $51M. These additional costs supported the implementation of programs to promote access to the justice system in both official languages, to provide legal aid for those facing charges under the Public Safety and Anti-Terrorism Act, and to support the National Anti-Drug Strategy.

In 2009-10, the increase in spending for Justice was primarily due to an arbitral award resulting in $40M additional spending to cover mandatory retroactive compensation for counsel from fiscal years 2006-07 to 2008-09 and current year increases for 2009-2010. Additional funding was also received for the Justice Training Component of the Initiative in Support of Access to Justice in Both Official Languages ($3.2M). The increased demand for legal services by other government departments is also responsible for the growth in spending for Justice.

Voted and Statutory Items¹⁷

(in millions of dollars)

Vote # or Statutory Item (S)	Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording	2007-08 Actual Spending	2008-09 Actual Spending	2009-10 Main Estimates	2009-10 Actual Spending
1	Operating expenditures	$268.38	$299.80	$257.39	$334.51
5	Grants and contributions	$362.25	$374.40	$370.56	$384.93
(S)	Contributions to employee benefit plans	$55.43	$62.71	$61.40	$78.73
(S)	Minister of Justice-Salary and motor car allowance	$0.07	$0.08	$0.08	$0.08
Total		$686.13	$736.99	$689.43	$798.25

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1. The Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime tables annual reports to Parliament separately through the Minister of Justice. For further information regarding the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime, please consult: http://www.victimsfirst.gc.ca/index.html.
2. Although TBS directed that the Ombudsman's office be included within the DOJ PAA given that the resources for the Office are transferred from the DOJ appropriation, the Ombudsman's Office is headed by a Deputy Head who reports directly to the Minister exercising delegated authorities separate from those of the Deputy Minister of Justice Canada. The Office is not part of the Department of Justice governance framework, and therefore, it is not part of the DOJ performance measurement framework.
3. Total authority includes Vote Net Authority of $229.4M which allows the Department to recover from other government departments and agencies some of the costs incurred to deliver legal services.
4. As per Department's comprehensive PAA (approved by TBS) - targets deemed not quantifiable for this indicator.
5. National Justice Survey, 2009, Mental Health Disorders in the Criminal Justice System. http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/pwgsc-tpsgc/por-ef/justice_canada/2010/043-09-e/index.html
6. Ranking of 10th according to World Competitiveness Survey 2010 Yearbook - Survey Question within Government Efficiency - Societal Framework - "Justice is fairly administered" - overall score of 8.09 on an index from 0-10.
7. This number represents the total number of bills and initiatives pertaining solely to SO 1: A fair, relevant and accessible justice system that reflects Canadian values. 8 were later reintroduced in 2010-2011
8. Commencing in the 2009-10 Estimates cycle, the resources for Program Activity: Internal Services is displayed separately from other program activities; they are no longer distributed among the remaining program activities, as was the case in previous Main Estimates. This has affected the comparability of spending and FTE information by Program Activity between fiscal years.
9. As per PAA approved by TBS, targets not quantifiable for these performance indicators
10. Commencing in the 2009-10 Estimates cycle, the resources for Program Activity: Internal Services are displayed separately from other program activities; they are no longer distributed among the remaining program activities, as was the case in previous Main Estimates. This has affected the comparability of spending and FTE information by Program Activity between fiscal years.
11. Planned Spending includes anticipated legal services costs of $205M for the provision of legal services to other government departments and agencies.
12. Includes Net Voting Authority of $229.1M some of which will be realigned to Program Activity Internal Services in fiscal year 2010-2011 to more appropriately align revenues to costs.
13. The Authorities do not include the Internal Services costs related to the provision of legal services to other government departments. The total spending, however, includes that portion of the revenues collected by the Department under the Net Vote Authority associated with the total authorities for Program Activity B1 Services to Government. Net Vote Authority will be realigned from Program Activity "Services to Government" in fiscal year 2010-2011 to more appropriately align revenues to costs.
14. Starting in 2009-2010, departments are required to report Internal Services separately. In previous years, funding for Internal Services was embedded in Strategic Outcomes I and II.
15. Data extracted from iCase system
16. Data extracted from Departmental SMS system as at March 31st, 2010.
17. All amounts exclude the funds provided under Net Voting Authority or respendable revenue. An amount in respendable revenue of $182M in 2007-08, $200.5M in 2008-09 and $229.4M are excluded of the actual spending. The 2009-10 Main estimates excludes Net Voting Authority of $178M.

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