ARCHIVED - Department of Justice Canada - Report

• The Minister of Justice tabled 15 bills (up one from last year), of which six were passed and received Royal Assent.
• In order to modernize the law and provide law enforcement with new investigative tools to respond to new technologies, the Department developed Bill C-50, the Improving Access to Investigative Tools for Serious Crimes Act, to clarify the wiretap provisions and supported the re-introduction of the Investigative Powers for the 21^st Century Act (Bill C-51), which proposed amendments to the Criminal Code that would update language and provide new tools for law enforcement. This will enhance capacities to investigate cybercrime and increase Canada’s capacity to cooperate internationally in this area.
• The Department developed the Regulations Prescribing Certain Offences to be Serious Offences under the Criminal Code in order to provide more flexibility in responding to the threats posed by organized crime groups. The Regulations designate 11 specific offences addressing gambling, prostitution and drug activity as “serious offences” for which the maximum punishment will be at least five years’ imprisonment.
• The Department supported international initiatives to tackle crime, including the development of the G8 Leaders' Statement on Countering Terrorism and workshops sponsored by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and enhanced international crime prevention and anti-terrorism capacity building. These initiatives also served to strengthen the legal framework for international cooperation in addressing organized crime, security and terrorism.

• In support of safe and resilient communities, two new funding priorities were implemented this year, under the Federal Victims Strategy, to support:
  1. victim services for families of missing and murdered Aboriginal women; and
  2. child advocacy centres for children and youths who have been victims of crime or witnesses to crime.
• The following two components, under the Justice Partnership and Innovation Program, were furthered in 2010-11 to address issues related to missing and murdered Aboriginal women:
  1. awareness materials on breaking cycles of violence and abuse were developed under the Family Violence Initiative; and
  2. school-based and community programs to provide alternatives for high-risk young Aboriginal women were supported under the Access to Justice for Marginalized Populations component.
• The Department led the National Anti-Drug Strategy, which provides a focused approach to addressing crime associated with illegal drugs. This year’s initiatives included the consideration of a bill to address serious drug crimes by proposing minimum penalties, which was introduced on May 5, 2010.
• The Department also ensured that Canadian interests were considered on the world stage by participating in the Hemispheric Drug Strategy at the Organization of American States.
• The Department worked with Canadian agencies and foreign administrations to enhance cross-border law enforcement and extradition to advance the next generation of integrated law enforcement bilateral operations and counter-terrorism.

The Department provided legal services to support client departments in implementing Government priorities. Examples include:

• Implementing Canada’s Economic Action Plan by providing legal services that supported activities related to Canada’s infrastructure renewal, program delivery, environmental evaluations and consultations, all of which contributed to enhancing Canada’s economic recovery.
• Strengthening Canada’s financial system by providing legal advice with respect to fiscal, economic and tax issues. The proper functioning of the harmonized sales tax revenue allocation framework was supported, as were the Government’s increased efforts to collect outstanding taxes and manage the level of tax debt. The Department reviewed measures to regulate federally regulated financial institutions and defended Parliament’s authority to enact securities legislation. Amendments to private and public pension legislation and regulations were also supported.
• Ensuring the defence and security of Canada and safeguarding Canadians by enhancing information sharing between Canadian government departments and agencies and foreign entities in an effort to improve Canada’s ability to identify and deal with threats to national security. In order to continue to address the harms caused by prostitution, the Government appealed the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision that provisions of the Criminal Code related to prostitution are unconstitutional (in Bedford et al. v. AGC). The Department also successfully defended the constitutionality of the security certificate provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act at the Federal Court.
• Strengthening Canada’s response to migrant smuggling by providing legal services in response to the arrival of the marine vessels Ocean Lady (October 2009) and Sun Sea (August 2010), which carried 76 and 492 illegal migrants, respectively. The arrival of these vessels presented serious challenges to the operations of several departments and agencies of the Government of Canada. The Department promptly responded to the increase in demand for legal services that flowed as a consequence of those arrivals.
• Supporting sustainable development by providing advice to its clients on the implementation of the Federal Sustainable Development Act, particularly in respect of the federal sustainable development strategy, finalized in October 2010. The Department also drafted a variety of regulatory measures to protect the environment (including those related to the Chemicals Management Plan) and received the Community of Federal Regulators Award for work on the Passenger Automobile and Light Truck Greenhouse Gas Emission Regulations and the Renewable Fuels Regulations. The Department also introduced a template for preparing sustainable development checklists for legal services and a template to ensure that such criteria are considered during the development of all policies and programs.

Strategic Outcome I - A fair, relevant and accessible justice system that reflects Canadian values

Strategic Outcome II - A federal government supported by effective and responsive legal services

The Department is taking steps to renew, develop and sustain its work force to meet its business goals. Some highlights include the following:

• In support of renewing the work force and supporting the Law Practice Model, 124 entry-level counsel and 89 articling students were recruited.
• The Department successfully carried out the requirements to implement the first Collective Agreement for the Law Group (LA), ensuring that the supporting infrastructure (i.e. systems, policies, and processes) were aligned to the new provisions for the represented Law Group.
• In the context of the accurate description of work, the Department completed the work required for the creation of the manager stream as part of the Law Group Classification Reform in addition to pursuing work for the creation of generic job descriptions for the legal practitioner stream. In order to meet the new mandatory continuing professional development requirements introduced by some of the Canadian Law Societies, the Department successfully sought the accreditation of numerous departmental courses that meet these mandatory requirements.
• The Department’s solid performance in employment equity was maintained for the second year in a row, with a strong rating on employment equity, and ranking first out of 49 departments in the Management Accountability Framework assessment. The Department was also cited as a model in employment equity in the Treasury Board Secretariat’s Employment Equity in the Public Service of Canada annual report for building a positive workplace culture and for strengthening its leadership in this area. In addition, the Department received the Employment Equity and Diversity Public Service Award of Excellence for its outstanding contribution to making the Department of Justice an inclusive workplace. This included, for example, the exceptional work in developing and launching the Department’s Employment Equity Action Plan (2010-13).

The Department began implementation of the Law Practice Model in 2009-10, and expects it will be fully implemented by March 31, 2012. As part of the gradual implementation of the Law Practice Model, the mix of counsel in the Department has been realigned, primarily through increased recruitment of junior counsel and attrition of more senior counsel. Progress is presented in the following table:

The Law Practice Model is achieving efficiencies and flexibilities 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, giving consideration to the complexity of work, the level of expertise, and the level of legal risk associated with each file.

The Department is creating efficiencies by developing and enhancing tools and processes related to knowledge management, legal risk management, information sharing, and quality assurance. Most of the planned initiatives were completed during this reporting period. The remaining initiatives will be completed over a longer period. Among the initiatives completed in 2010-11, the Department:

• developed and piloted a working prototype of a national legal knowledge management repository that will provide one system for capturing and sharing comprehensive legal knowledge;
• completed pilot projects to support a harmonized yet flexible approach for legal risk management;
• introduced an accountability framework to support consistency in the development and implementation of Memoranda of Understanding related to the provision of legal services;
• developed a prototype management dashboard to support the planning and management of resources and the demand for legal services;
• implemented case management application enhancements to support managers in validating overtime, to support new reporting requirements pertaining to contingent liabilities and gains, and to enable reporting on legal services effort on the basis of the Department’s revised Chart of Accounts; and
• developed and launched the second generation of the Legislative Information Management System for the on-line publication of laws.

Strategic Outcome I - A fair, relevant and accessible justice system that reflects Canadian values

Strategic Outcome II - A federal government supported by effective and responsive legal services

The Department developed an implementation strategy to ensure the integration of departmental financial, case management and information management systems, resulting in improved efficiency. Activities completed include the following:

• The Department’s financial accounting system was aligned with the Government of Canada standard operating system and prepared for future integration with other systems, including the departmental case management system, which will allow for consistent and integrated planning and reporting.
• Technical changes were made to the Department’s case management system in order to support the latest Web browser, office productivity suite, and document security permissions.
• The Department led the functional development, configuration and implementation of the proof of concept and pilot projects related to the Enterprise Information Management Service, hosted by the Government of Canada, along with other departments and agencies.

Strategic Outcome I - A fair, relevant and accessible justice system that reflects Canadian values

Strategic Outcome II - A federal government supported by effective and responsive legal services

The Department has implemented consistent, standardized departmental practices and processes that meet Treasury Board financial management policy requirements through the following measures:

• The Department approved a Budget Management Framework that defines the responsibilities and expectations for its management of financial resources, which is expected to result in strengthened and standardized budget and financial risk management processes and controls.
• A new Salary Forecasting Tool to replace the former system was implemented, providing a standardized and integrated platform for salary forecasting.
• A revised Chart of Accounts was put in place to enable the accurate and reliable recording of financial data in a manner consistent with central agency and parliamentary requirements.

Met all

In 2011, overall, the level of public confidence in the Justice System remained relatively stable, compared to 2009 levels:

• Public confidence level in the Adult Criminal Justice System 2011: 50.5%. (+3.77%)
• Public confidence level in the Youth Criminal Justice System 2011: 39.7% (-1.45%)⁵

Met all

Canada’s ranking improved to the ninth place out of 59 countries in 2011⁶ (up from 10th place in 2010)

Unable to assess⁸

15 bills tabled (of which six were passed and received Royal Assent)⁹

Exceeded (Interim Results)¹²

• Legal advisory services: 8.4/10
• Litigation services: 8.2/10
• Legislative drafting services: 8.6/10
• Regulatory drafting services: 8.8/10

Not Met (Interim Results)¹²

• Overall quality of services: 8.4
• Five of the ten service standards received a score of 8.0/10 or higher¹⁴