ARCHIVED - RPP 2006-2007
Department of Justice Canada

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SECTION IV - OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

Corporate Management Plans

The Department also establishes corporate priorities and plans to improve the management of the Department and facilitate the successful delivery of the outcomes we want to achieve for Canadians. Our activities in this vein must take into account the priorities of the federal government, the Minister, our clients and our Department.

Recent changes to our governance structure ensures appropriate stewardship of departmental human, financial and administrative resources. We developed and implemented tools and processes for integrating Human Resources, financial and IMIT planning with the Departmental business planning cycle. The departmental Business Planning process provided an opportunity for Finance, Human Resources Professional Development Directorate and Information Management Branch to engage in valuable dialogue with clients regarding future requirements for the delivery of corporate objectives. A financial management framework has been implemented integrating a more rigorous approach to allocating, monitoring and assessing the Department's financial resources, including our capacity to reallocate internally to meet key priorities. Key elements of this overall framework include:

• creation of a new finance committee (Fin.Com) which makes recommendations to senior management (SMB)
• improvements made to the 2005-2006 budget allocation process (e.g. timeliness, transparency, dialogue);
• establishment of a contracts review mechanism across the Department.

During 2004-2005, we established four corporate priorities to improve the management of the Department and facilitate the successful delivery of the outcomes we want to achieve for Canadians. The importance of these activities and the ongoing progress made on them encouraged the Governing Council to continue to support efforts in these areas. They are as follows:

Our People

We have many ongoing initiatives supporting the Our People corporate priority. One highlight is the release of the results of the Workplace Health Needs and Risks Survey which discusses the many programs and resources available for employees and managers to improve their workplace well-being. We will also release the Employment Equity Plan 2006-2009 that will guide our efforts over the next few years. We are proud that the Department is considered a model for public service employment equity policies and practices and with the release of the Public Service Employee Survey 2005 results due in June of 2006, we will continue to work to improve. In this vein, the Department is developing a new pilot program which will help to identify and prepare those who have the desire and potential to become future leaders in the Department of Justice.

As well, a Departmental Human Resources Environmental Scan identified a number of key human resources management challenges/priorities for the Department. Over the reporting period, the Department will focus its attention on the issues listed below:

• Certification of the LA group
• Compliance with the Public Service Employment Act
• Classification Modification
• Achieving Employment Equity Benchmarks
• Fostering a culture of learning.

The unionization of lawyers and the introduction of collective bargaining will bring about unprecedented cultural change for the Department over the next year. In addition, the unionization of lawyers provides an opportunity to review and strengthen the current management structure in the Department. DOJ will work together with the Treasury Board Secretariat over the next year to develop a proposal and implementation plan that will support the creation of a strong management cadre and will improve the management of Justice's business and the attainment of its business objectives.

Performing and Reporting

A number of improvements have been made over the past year to our management capacity and practices on several fronts, including the completion of our first round of business plans. The feedback from Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) on our 2004-05 Departmental Performance Report (DPR), submitted in October 2005, was quite positive, as was its assessment through the Management Accountability Framework (MAF), of the department's performance management capacity. Our MAF assessment moved from the fourth quartile in 2004-2005 to the second quartile in 2005-2006; representing significant year-over-year improvement.

Our goal is to further streamline and fine-tune our activities on performing and reporting to make these practices second nature.

Managing Litigation and Sustainable Funding

This year's focus of the Advisory Committee on Managing Litigation's work will be on sustaining initiatives to improve the quality of information needed to manage litigation workload and resources more effectively. To that end, litigation performance indicators and litigation management core data are being developed in conjunction with the Review of Legal Services team, Strategic Planning and Performance Management SPPM, and IM/IT.

The Review of Legal Services team is pursuing its work to: identify improvements to the delivery of legal services; recommend a sustainable funding regime; and, propose concrete approaches to improve the management of litigation in government. The team is working closely with Treasury Board Secretariat and Justice stakeholders, such as Finance, IM/IT, SPPM, and Dispute Resolution Services.

Legislation Administered by the Department

The Department of Justice exists by virtue of the Department of Justice Act, first passed in 1868. The Act establishes the Department's role and sets out the powers, duties and functions of the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of Canada.

In addition to this general enabling statute, the Minister and the Department have responsibilities under a number of other laws. These range from fairly routine matters, such as tabling the annual report of an agency in Parliament, to broader responsibilities, such as the obligation to review all government bills and regulations for compliance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Canadian Bill of Rights and the Statutory Instruments Act. The laws for which the Minister has sole or shared responsibility to Parliament are listed below.¹

Access to Information Act, R.S. 1985, c. A-1
(responsibility shared with the President of the Treasury Board).²
Annulment of Marriages Act (Ontario), R.S.C. 1970, c. A-14.
Anti-Terrorism Act, S.C. 2001, c. 41
.
Bills of Lading Act, R.S. 1985, c. B-5 (responsibility shared with the Minister of Transport).

Canada Evidence Act, R.S. 1985, c. C-5.
Canada-United Kingdom Civil and Commercial Judgments Convention Act, R.S. 1985, c. C-30.
Canada Prize Act, R.S.C. 1970, c. P-24.
Canadian Bill of Rights, S.C. 1960, c. 44; reprinted in R.S.C. 1985, Appendix III.
Canadian Human Rights Act, R.S. 1985, c. H-6.
Commercial Arbitration Act, R.S. 1985, c. 17 (2nd Supp.).
Courts Administration Service Act, S.C. 2002, c. 8.
Contraventions Act, S.C. 1992, c. 47.
Criminal Code, R.S. 1985, c. C-46 (responsibility shared with the Solicitor General of Canada,³ and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (s. 204)).
Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, R.S. 1985, c. C-50.

Department of Justice Act, R.S. 1985, c. J-2.
Divorce Act, R.S. 1985, c. 3 (2nd Supp.).

Escheats Act, R.S. 1985, c. E-13.
Extradition Act, S.C. 1999, c. 18.⁴

Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act, R.S. 1985, c. 4 (2nd Supp.).
Federal Courts Act, R.S. 1985, c. F-7.⁵
Federal Law-Civil Harmonization Act, No.1, S.C. 2001, c. 4.
Firearms Act, S.C. 1995, c. 39.⁶
Foreign Enlistment Act, R.S. 1985, c. F-28.
Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act, R.S. 1985, c. F-29.

Garnishment, Attachment and Pension Diversion Act, R.S. 1985, c. G-2 (responsibility shared with the Minister of National Defence, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, and Minister of Finance⁷).

Identification of Criminals Act, R.S. 1985, c. I-1.
International Sale of Goods Contracts Convention Act, S.C. 1991, c. 13.
Interpretation Act, R.S. 1985, c. I-21.

Judges Act, R.S. 1985, c. J-1.

Law Commission of Canada Act, S.C. 1996, c. 9.
Legislative Instruments Re-enactment Act, S.C. 2002, c. 20.

Marriage (Prohibited Degrees) Act, S.C. 1990, c. 46.
Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act, S.C. 2000, c. 12.
Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, R.S. 1985, c. 30 (4th Supp.).

Official Languages Act, R.S. 1985, c. 31 (4th Supp.).

Postal Services Interruption Relief Act, R.S. 1985, c. P-16.
Privacy Act, R.S. 1985, c. P-21
(responsibility shared with the President of the Treasury Board⁸).

Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985 Act, R.S. 1985, c. 40 (3rd Supp.).

Security Offences Act, R.S. 1985, c. S-7.
Security of Information Act, R.S. 1985, c. O-5.
State Immunity Act, R.S. 1985, c. S-18.
Statute Revision Act, R.S. 1985, c. S-20.
Statutory Instruments Act, R.S. 1985, c. S-22.
Supreme Court Act, R.S. 1985, c. S-26.

Tax Court of Canada Act, R.S. 1985, c. T-2.

United Nations Foreign Arbitral Awards Convention Act, R.S. 1985, c. 16 (2nd Supp.).

Youth Criminal Justice Act, S.C. 2002, c. 1
(replaces Young Offenders Act, R.S. 1985, c. Y-1).

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1. This list, prepared in February 2004, is an unofficial version for information only.

2. Rsponsibility shared with the President of the Treasury Board in the following manner: Minister of Justice (for purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of "head" in section 3, subsection 4(2), paragraphs 77(1) (f) and (g) and subsection 77(2)); and the President of the Treasury Board (for all other purposes of the Act) (SI/83-108).

3. The portfolio of the Solicitor General of Canada was replaced by the portfolio of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on December 12, 2003. The legislation has not yet been amended to reflect this.

4. Section 84 of the new Extradition Act, 1999, c. 18, provides that the repealed Act (R.S. 1985, c. E-23) applies to a matter respecting the extradition of a person as though it had not been repealed, if the hearing in respect of the extradition had already begun on June 17, 1999.

5. Formerly the Federal Court Act. The title was amended to the Federal Courts Act in the Courts Administration Service Act, S.C. 2002, c. 8, s. 14.

6. The Firearms Program was transferred to the Solicitor General (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness as of December 12, 2003, although the legislation has not yet been amended to reflect this change) as of April 14, 2003. See SOR/2003-145.

7. Responsibility shared in the following manner: (a) Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, General (Part I) (SI/84-5), and for the purposes of sections 46 and 47 of the Act, items 12 and 16 of the schedule to the Act and the other provisions of Part II of the Act as those provisions relate to the Judges Act (SI/84-6); (b) the Minister of National Defence, for the purposes of the provisions, except sections 46 and 47, of Part II of the Act as those provisions relate to the Canadian Forces Superannuation Act and the Defence Services Pension Continuation Act (SI/84-6); (c) the Minister of Finance, for the purposes of the provisions, except sections 46 and 47, of Part II of the Act as those provisions relate to the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act (SI/84-6); and (d) the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, for the purposes of the provisions, except sections 46 and 47, of Part II of the Act as those provisions relate to
(i) the Governor General's Act,
(ii) the Lieutenant Governor's Superannuation Act,
(iii) the Diplomatic Service (Special) Superannuation Act,
(iv) the Public Service Superannuation Act,
(v) the Civil Service Superannuation Act,
(vi) the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act, Part I,
(vii) the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Act, Parts II and III,
(viii) the Currency, Mint and Exchange Fund Act, subsection 15(2) (R.S. 1952, c. 315)
(ix) the War Veterans Allowance Act, subsection 28(10),
(x) regulations made under Vote 181 of Appropriation Act No. 5, 1961, and
(xi) the Tax Court of Canada Act (SI/84-6).

8. Responsibility is shared in the following manner: Minister of Justice, for purposes of paragraph (b) of the definition of "head" in section 3, subsection 12(3), paragraphs 77(1) (a), (d), (g) and (l) and subsection 77(2); President of the Treasury Board, for all other purposes of the Act (SI/83109).

Contact information

Contact Information:
Media Inquiries:
Communications Branch
Telephone: (613) 957-4207
Fax: (613) 954-0811

Public Inquiries:
Communications Branch
Telephone: (613) 957-4222
TDD/TTY: (613) 992-4556
Fax: (613) 954-0811

Information Online

For more information about the management terms used in this document, please consult the Treasury Board Secretariat's Lexicon for RPP:
http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/20052006/lex-eng.asp

For more information about the Department of Justice, please consult the following electronic publications:

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