ARCHIVED - Public Prosecution Service of Canada

The Honourable Robert Douglas Nicholson
Attorney General of Canada

MESSAGE FROM THE ACTING DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

I am pleased to present the 2009-10 Report on Plans and Priorities for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC). Created by the Director of Public Prosecutions Act in 2006, the PPSC prosecutes federal offences on behalf of the Crown and provides legal advice to investigative and law enforcement agencies as an independent, transparent and accountable organization, working in the public interest.

This report outlines an adjustment to the corporate priorities of the PPSC, as approved by the Executive Council. For the period covering 2009-10, Knowledge Management replaces the establishment of a corporate structure as a corporate priority and joins ensuring the safety and security of our employees, implementing a recruitment and retention strategy, and developing performance measures.

This report charts an ambitious course for the organization for the coming year. I am confident that we will continue to meet the challenges ahead, while providing benefits to Canadians as a full partner in Canada's criminal justice system.

Brian Saunders
Acting Director of Public Prosecutions

SECTION I—OVERVIEW

1.1 Summary Information

Raison d’être

The mandate of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) is set out in the Director of Public Prosecutions Act ¹ . The Act calls on the PPSC to provide prosecutorial advice to law enforcement agencies, and to prosecute matters on behalf of the Crown that are within the jurisdiction of the Attorney General of Canada. The PPSC's sole strategic outcome is the independent, impartial and fair prosecution of criminal and regulatory offences under federal law.

The PPSC plays an integral role in the criminal justice system, promoting due process and working to safeguard the rights of all those who come into contact with the system. The benefits to Canadians from the work carried out by the PPSC include:

• Provision of legal advice to federal investigative agencies and government departments on the criminal law implications of investigations and prosecutions;
  
  
• Appropriate enforcement of federal laws through principled and independent decisions by prosecutors; and
  
  
• Confidence in the administration of justice through professionally conducted prosecutions that result in a judicial determination on the merits of the evidence.

The PPSC is a national prosecution service with a network of offices located throughout Canada. Of its approximately 900 employees, the majority are staff prosecutors supported by other professionals including senior managers, paralegals, administrators, and corporate services staff. In addition, the PPSC employs the services of private sector legal agents in locations where it is more cost-effective than to have an office or staff counsel on travel status, or where the demand for prosecution services exceeds available staff resources. The PPSC currently retains some 210 standing agent firms across Canada, representing approximately 730 individually appointed counsel.

¹ The PPSC was created on December 12, 2006, when Part 3 of the Federal Accountability Act received Royal Assent, bringing the Director of Public Prosecutions Act into force.

Responsibilities

The PPSC undertakes key duties on behalf of the Attorney General of Canada. These key duties, to be carried out in an objective and non-partisan manner, are:

• The duty to act independently in making decisions related to criminal prosecutions – This constitutional principle recognizes that decisions to prosecute, stay proceedings or launch an appeal must be made in accordance with legal criteria. The public interest must be taken into account, but not considerations of a partisan political nature.
  
  
• The duty to act independently in providing prosecution-related legal advice – While prosecution-related advice to law enforcement and other federal investigative agencies will take into account the agency's legal and policy setting, prosecutors cannot be drawn into the agency's policy making and program administration such that their ability to provide impartial, accurate and effective legal advice is undermined.

The PPSC prosecutes cases under federal statutes that are referred to it by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), other federal investigative agencies, provincial police forces and municipal police forces.

The PPSC's prosecution-related work is part of the criminal justice continuum, which includes investigative agencies, law enforcement, courts and other parts of the criminal justice system. Prosecution-related advice during the police investigation has become crucial to ensure that police techniques and procedures are consistent with evolving rules of evidence and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms' protections. The advantage of early prosecutorial advice includes reducing the risk that operational decisions, such as those about methods of obtaining evidence, will detrimentally affect the admissibility of evidence at trial.

Strategic Outcome

The PPSC has one Strategic Outcome:

Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

The following chart presents the PPSC's framework of program activities, which together contribute to achieving the organization's Strategic Outcome.

PAA Crosswalk

On May 5, 2008, the PPSC received approval from the Treasury Board to modify its PAA for 2009-10. The following table provides a crosswalk between the PPSC's former and new PAA.

²For program activity descriptions, please access the Main Estimates online at http://publiservice.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/20092010/p2-eng.asp

Risk Analysis

Operational Trends

As of January 2009, the PPSC's total estimated volume of litigation files for 2008-09 was 74,407³, compared to 67,901 litigation files handled in 2007-08. Of this total, approximately 88% are within the drug, Criminal Code and terrorism offences prosecution program (which includes organized crime offences), whereas close to 12% involve the prosecution of federal regulatory offences and economic crime.

A small percentage of highly complex cases absorb a disproportionate share of the total resources of the PPSC. By way of example, organized crime cases represented approximately 3.3% of the litigation caseload in 2007-08 but approximately 23% of the recorded litigation time of PPSC counsel and paralegals. A relatively small increase in the number of organized crime cases, in response to strengthened law enforcement efforts across Canada, may have a disproportionate impact on the demand for prosecutorial resources. A single mega-case can absorb more prosecutorial resources than several hundred low-complexity cases.

Since federal and provincial prosecution services face shared issues and challenges, both levels of government benefit from collaboration under the leadership of the Federal/Provincial/Territorial (FPT) Heads of Prosecutions Committee. The Committee works to promote inter-jurisdictional cooperation and assistance on operational issues such as quality assurance, organized crime prosecutions, concurrent jurisdiction, proceeds of crime, expert witnesses and prosecutor training and security. This collaboration with key stakeholders in the criminal justice system is an important element of the operating context of the PPSC. In addition, the PPSC works closely with the Securities Fraud and Economic Crime Prosecutors Affiliation, a sub-committee of the FPT Heads of Prosecution Committee and inter-jurisdictional network of prosecutors.

³ This is a count of litigation files carried over from previous fiscal years and worked on during 2008-09 as well as new files assigned throughout the fiscal year, including an estimate to year-end.

External and Internal Influences Facing the PPSC

The PPSC is subject to a variety of external and internal influences, described below.

Workload and rising operational costs: Because the PPSC's workload is generated by police forces laying charges under federal statutes, it is largely based on police decisions regarding investigative priorities, tactics and allocation of resources. Increases in drug enforcement or policing resources significantly affect the nature and volume of the PPSC caseload. Similarly, changes in police tactics to focus on the upper echelons of organized crime groups to maximize deterrence, disruption and dismantling rather than on individuals in the lower ranks, affect the complexity and cost of prosecutions. The cost of prosecuting organized crime and mega-cases is far greater than simple possession drug cases, since the former types of cases often involve multiple accused and charges, complex evidence (both factually and legally), international dimensions, extensive disclosure and numerous pre-trial applications.

Government initiatives: The PPSC has an important role to play in supporting several government initiatives announced in Budgets 2006 and 2007 and in the November 2008 Speech from the Throne. These initiatives include ensuring the integrity of all components of the federal justice system, tackling crime, strengthening national security and increasing the efficiency of Canada's criminal justice system.

Provision of Support Services: The PPSC is in large part still dependent on the Department of Justice Canada for transactional services in the areas of human resources, financial management, information technology and information management. Conversely, the PPSC provides these services to Department of Justice offices located in the northern territories where the PPSC has a larger presence.

Sustainability: The PPSC must not only ensure that it has the capacity to respond to and support new government initiatives, but that it has access to resources that will allow it to ensure its long-term stability as a new organization. The PPSC will assess resource gaps relating to its capacity to deliver strategic corporate services and to conduct effective prosecution services. A resourcing strategy to support the operational requirements of the organization will be developed.

The North: Crown prosecutors assigned to the northern territories face stressful working conditions and pressures associated with isolation, cultural differences, geography and the socio-economic conditions that give rise to higher crime rates. Northern prosecutors who are required to travel on court circuits often spend many days away from their home and families and can be left stranded for extended periods due to extreme and unexpected weather conditions. Prosecutors and Crown Witness Coordinators involved in the prosecution of violent crimes often suffer the effects of vicarious trauma.

Competition for scarce resources: The salaries paid to provincial prosecutors and private sector lawyers exceed those paid to PPSC lawyers in certain regions of Canada. This affects the PPSC's ability to retain both its highly skilled prosecutors and legal agents.

International crime networks: The globalization of crime networks has introduced new and powerful dangers to national and global security. These networks are involved in organized crime, trafficking in human beings, telemarketing fraud, money laundering and drug trafficking. International criminal networks exploit national borders in an attempt to thwart the efforts of authorities in their battle to prevent transnational crime. This reality has made it imperative for the PPSC to work more effectively with international partners to address the threats posed by these international criminal networks, to uphold the rule of law, and to enhance safety and security at home and abroad.

Security of staff: Due to the nature of their work, PPSC employees face the risk of direct and indirect threats to their safety. Ensuring the safety and security of its employees is a PPSC priority. The PPSC has established a Security Committee to ensure that appropriate security measures are developed and implemented to protect its prosecutors and other employees.

Spending Profile

For the 2009-10 fiscal year, the PPSC plans to spend $162.8 million to meet the expected results of its program activities and contribute to the strategic outcome. The following chart illustrates the PPSC's spending trends from 2007-08 to 2011-12.

Since 2007-08, the PPSC's core spending increased mainly due to the implementation of higher rates paid to legal agents. Agent rates had remained unchanged since 1990. As well, the PPSC received new funding for the implementation of key government initiatives such as Restoring the Effectiveness of Federal Policing and the National Anti-Drug Strategy ⁴.

Voted and Statutory Items

The following table illustrates the way in which Parliament approved PPSC resources, and shows the changes in resources derived from supplementary estimates and other authorities, as well as how funds were spent.

⁴ See the following website for more information on the National Anti-Drug Strategy http://www.nationalantidrugstrategy.gc.ca

Section II—Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

This section describes the PPSC's three program activities and priorities and plans for 2009-10.

Description of Activity

Under this program activity, the PPSC provides prosecution-related advice and litigation support during the police investigation, and prosecutes all drug charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, regardless of whether a federal, provincial or municipal police agency lays the charges, except in the case of Quebec and New Brunswick, where the PPSC prosecutes drug charges laid by the RCMP. Some of these cases involve organized crime.

Pursuant to agreements and arrangements with the provinces, the PPSC also prosecutes Criminal Code offences where they are related to drug charges and the drug aspect forms the major part of the case. In the three territories, the PPSC prosecutes all Criminal Code offences.

The PPSC also provides prosecution-related advice and litigation support during police investigations⁵, and prosecutes charges under the Part II.1 of the Criminal Code (Terrorism), and the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) Terrorism Financing Act to combat trans-national crime and terrorism.

Finally, this program activity involves the promotion of federal/provincial/territorial cooperation on criminal justice issues of mutual concern. This work is carried out through the PPSC's participation in the FPT Heads of Prosecutions Committee which supports and promotes effective horizontal linkages between various stakeholders involved in the administration of criminal justice in Canada. The PPSC also participates in dialogue with other stakeholders involved in the criminal justice field. These activities ensure that key linkages are developed and maintained with relevant professional and governmental organizations, both nationally and internationally.

During 2007-08, this program activity involved approximately 60,089 litigation files. The projected volume of litigation files for 2008-09 is 65,842.

Planning Highlights for 2009-10

Within this program activity, two ongoing priorities relate to organized crime and terrorism-related offences.

The focus on organized crime reflects the priority given to this issue by the federal government, federal police and other law enforcement authorities. The PPSC will continue to emphasize inter-jurisdictional cooperation within the prosecutorial community and with investigative agencies both federally, nationally and internationally; provide advice and litigation support during the investigative stage, especially on highly complex cases; prosecute organized crime cases on behalf of the Crown; and pursue proceeds of crime and offence-related property. While all PPSC regional offices prosecute organized crime cases, a number of them are involved in highly complex and resource-intensive cases that will continue through 2009-10, and will require dedicated teams of experienced counsel.

The priority given to terrorism-related offences reflects the gravity with which national security matters are viewed. Four PPSC regional offices are currently prosecuting cases in which charges of terrorism have been laid, and dedicated teams of experienced counsel have been established to prosecute three of them. These cases are usually resource-intensive and some will carry over to 2009-10.

During 2009-10, the PPSC will continue to work closely with FPT heads of prosecution on issues and challenges of common interest, to co-chair the FPT Heads of Prosecutions Committee and to offer secretarial and administrative support, in addition to renewing efforts to ensure ongoing linkages between the Committee and partners from outside the prosecution community such as the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) and the Federation of Law Societies. The PPSC will also continue to participate in the work of the Heads of Prosecuting Agencies Conference (HOPAC) and the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP).

During 2009-10, the PPSC will continue to receive foreign delegations interested in criminal justice and who are seeking to deepen their understanding of the Canadian justice system and Canadian prosecution approaches, particularly in relation to drug and terrorism prosecutions, and with respect to areas of the Criminal Code of Canada.

Benefits to Canadians

This program activity contributes to ensuring a safe and secure Canada through the prosecution of a broad range of criminal activities. It deals with drug-related offences, complex organized crime cases, terrorism offences as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

⁵ It should be noted that the operational priority for prosecution-related advice during the investigative stage is primarily on highly complex cases.