ARCHIVED - Supreme Court of Canada

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I: Overview

A. Registrar's Message

I am pleased to present the 2010-2011 Report on Plans and Priorities for the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Supreme Court of Canada is Canada's final court of appeal. It serves Canadians by issuing judgments on questions of public importance which contribute to the development of the common law throughout Canada and of the civil law regime as it applies to Quebec. The independence of the Court, the quality of its work and the respect in which it is held both in Canada and abroad contribute significantly as foundations for a secure, strong and democratic country.

The Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada has a deep appreciation for the importance of the Court's role and focuses its efforts on a single strategic outcome, namely that ‘The administration of Canada's final court of appeal is effective and independent'.

The core work of the Office continues to be the processing and hearing of cases brought to the Court. Although our projected caseload for the coming year remains stable, the decision-making environment continually evolves, thereby dictating new risks, challenges and opportunities. In the past few years, these have been mainly of a technological nature, as the Court undertook a major courtroom modernization initiative. Now that courtroom systems are stable and the implementation of an electronic document and records management system is underway, the focus will shift to adapting business processes to that new electronic environment. I am confident that although change is not always easy, the managers and employees of the Court will pursue that challenge and continue to dedicate themselves, as always, to serving the judges and Canadians with professionalism and a renewed sense of purpose.

In line with that challenge, we will be focusing on two key management priorities in 2010-2011: (i) developing and implementing a sound information management program and (ii) enhancing the Court's overall security program to better meet the needs of the Court.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this report.

B. Raison d'être

C. Responsibilities

The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) is comprised of the Chief Justice and eight Puisne Judges, all of whom are appointed by the Governor in Council. It is the highest Court in Canada and one of its most important national institutions. It hears appeals from the decisions of the courts of appeal of the provinces and territories, as well as from the Federal Court of Appeal. In addition, the Court is required to give its opinion on any question referred to it by the Governor in Council. The importance of the decisions of the Court in Canadian society is well established. The Court assures uniformity, consistency and correctness in the articulation, development and interpretation of legal principles throughout the Canadian judicial system. Its jurisdiction is derived from the Supreme Court Act and other relevant statutes, such as the Criminal Code.

The Registrar and the Deputy Registrar are Governor in Council appointees. The Registrar is the Deputy Head of the Court and also exercises some quasi-judicial powers.

The Registrar is supported in his functions by:

• the Deputy Registrar, who oversees the work of the Court Operations Sector, the IT Solutions and Development Sector as well as that of the Communication Services unit. The Court Operations Sector groups together four core program branches: Registry, Law, Library and Information Management, and Reports. The IT Solutions and Development Sector consists of two branches: the IT Operations branch and the Business Development and Change Management branch. The Communication Services unit manages external communications, public visits and educational activities, as well as internal communications;
• the Judicial Support Services and Protocol Branch, which provides judicial support services to the Judges' Chambers and manages the Court's protocol activities; and
• the Corporate Services Sector, which provides various administrative support to the Judges and Court staff, such as accommodations, telephones, health and safety, finance, procurement, human resources, printing and mail services, security, strategic planning and corporate reporting.

D. Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture

The Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada has a single strategic outcome: The administration of Canada's final court of appeal is effective and independent.

The following diagram illustrates the program activity architecture which contributes to attaining the strategic outcome:

[Diagram 1 - Text Version]

Program Activity Architecture Crosswalk

The Office of the Registrar modified the wording of its strategic outcome with approval from the Treasury Board in May 2009. The modification was made only in order to more clearly define the outcome statement and does not reflect any changes to the program activities or sub-activities and involved no redistribution of financial resources. The diagram below compares the new structure for 2010-2011 with the old structure:

[Diagram 2 - Text Version]

E. Planning Summary

Planning Summary Table

F. Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome

The focus of the Office of the Registrar will continue to be the processing of cases without delay while maintaining stakeholder satisfaction and high standards of service as well as keeping backlogs to a minimum.

Integrated business planning. The Office of the Registrar continues to improve its business planning process by further integrating various resource requirements such as human resources, financial resources, assets, information technology, communications as well as risk considerations. The human resources plan serves to forecast staffing needs, to deal strategically with retention and succession issues as well as to mobilize and sustain the energies and talents of managers and employees. The Office of the Registrar is also improving the management of learning amongst its staff by linking learning activities to operational requirements, specific job requirements, future organizational needs as well as employee development, through the use of learning plans. Learning plans are evergreen and reviewed each year during the performance evaluation cycle. This enables the Office of the Registrar to effectively manage its human resources and strategically align the organization's efforts to the priorities of the Clerk of the Privy Council.

Priorities. The Office of the Registrar has two management priorities for 2010-2011: (i) develop and implement a sound information management program; and (ii) enhance the security program to better meet the needs of the Court.

* Although the security program is a new management priority, the business continuity plan component was a previously committed priority in 2009-10.

G. Risk Analysis

On November 30, 2009, the Registrar announced changes to the organizational structure to ensure that the administration of the Court is properly aligned to better meet future challenges and to address strategic priorities. The major factors affecting the Court's activities are detailed below, along with key risks.

Operating Environment. The environment within which the Office of the Registrar must carry out its activities is continually evolving. First, to counter various ongoing pressures placed on the Court to update its facilities, systems and services, the Office of the Registrar's focus during the last four years has been on modernizing the courtroom and on enhancing electronic access to the Court for litigants and the public. Major technological changes have now been instituted and the Office of the Registrar is solidifying and leveraging these new technologies by ensuring that work processes are adapted to the new technological environment.

Second, there has been a need for a continued focus on the electronic exchange of information between or from the Judges, Court staff, the legal community and the public. The public has become more technologically savvy and comfortable using electronic tools to carry out a wide variety of functions. Consistent with this broad trend, the public expects to be able to use electronic tools to interact with the Office of the Registrar's systems to obtain information, for example by viewing webcasts of Court hearings, or accessing written submissions via the Internet. Judges and counsel are increasingly preparing their cases using electronic documents and therefore require access to these documents electronically, including during hearings. Counsel are demanding the ability to use electronic information and technology while presenting their cases. Meanwhile, the number of electronic documents and judgments produced by the lower courts is increasing. While the Office of the Registrar has moved toward a greater acceptance and processing cases electronically, (all main appeal documents are now filed electronically), the requirement for paper-based processes continues and will continue for some time. As a result, parallel streams (paper and electronic) of case and information processing is still required. The courtroom modernization project created additional pressure to bridge the paper and electronic streams while maintaining both formats. The focus is now shifting to business transformation and change management with a view to realizing greater efficiencies and effectiveness in all sectors of the Court's operations.

Third, factors such as globalization and the growing influence of privacy, national security, and human rights issues continue to increase the complexity of cases being heard. More complicated motions are also being filed and the Court is frequently asked to deal with cases or issue rulings on an expedited basis. In addition, a significant number of applications for leave to appeal are being received from self represented litigants (24% of applications in 2008). Addressing the needs of self represented litigants causes additional pressure on all of the Court's operations.

Fourth, the workload of the Office of the Registrar in terms of caseload has been very stable over the last decade (an average of 86 appeals heard and 556 leave applications filed per year), although there can be unexplainable fluctuations from year to year. There were 546 new cases filed in 2008 (528 applications for leave and 18 appeals as of right), with 82 appeals being heard. At the time of drafting this report, our projections are that 2009 could be a somewhat lighter than an average year, with 73 appeals being heard and an estimated 515 leave applications and 14 appeals as of right filed. Our projections for 2010 are 65 appeals to be heard as well as an estimated 530 leave applications and 14 appeals as of right to be filed.

Finally, an ongoing challenge faced by the Office of the Registrar is one that is shared by many smaller governmental organizations, that is the struggle to maintain operations and address specific challenges while at the same time complying with the same expectations and requirements (e.g. reporting) established by government's central agencies as are demanded of larger, more resourced departments or institutions.

Key risks. The key risks that may have implications for the Office of the Registrar's ability to achieve expected results during the reporting period are related to information management, change management and business transformation, people management, physical and information security, business operations and their continuity as well as delivery of judicial support services. In November 2009, the Registrar took steps to address these risks through an internal restructuring to better align the information management function, to better respond to business transformation needs as well as to better deliver various judicial support services to the judges' chambers.

H. Expenditure Profile

For 2010-11 fiscal year, the Office of the Registrar plans to spend $29.4 million to meet the expected results of its program activity and contribute to its strategic outcome. As illustrated in the diagram that follows, there was a slight increase in approved funding for the courtroom project from 2006-2007 to 2008-2009.

Canada's Economic Action Plan (CEAP). The CEAP did not have an impact on the Court's operations or activities.

[Diagram 3 - Text Version]

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