ARCHIVED - Supreme Court of Canada - Report

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page

This page has been archived.

Section II - Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome(s)

A. Strategic Outcome

The Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada achieves its strategic outcome and results for Canadians through its main program activity – (i) Court Operations, together with its program activities in regard to (ii) Process payment of various allowances to Supreme Court Judges Pursuant to the Judges Act and (iii) Internal Services. The performance indicators for the strategic outcome relate mainly to the quality and timeliness of the service provided.

Strategic Outcome: The administration of Canada's final court of appeal is effective and independent

Performance Indicator	Targets
Level of satisfaction among judges regarding quality of service	Target "satisfied" level
Level of satisfaction among judges regarding quality of service	Target "satisfied" level

B. Program Activity by Strategic Outcome

 

Program Activity: Court Operations

Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ millions)
2011-12		2012-13		2013-14
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
143	14.3	143	14.3	143	14.3

 

Program Activity Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets
Cases processed without delay	Number of weeks between filing of application for leave and decision on application for leave	14 weeks
	Number of months between hearing and judgment	6 months
Access to Court services and information	% of lawyers and unrepresented litigants that were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with Registry Services	95%
Courtroom systems reliability	Number of hearing disruptions for technical reasons per year	0
Access to reference information	% of factual/bibliographic requests for reference assistance responded to within service standard of 1 working day	95%
	% of complex/substantive requests for reference assistance responded to by date required by client	95%
	% of users that were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with library services	95%
	% of citations in judgments that are in the collection	85%

Program Activity Summary

In order to render decisions, the Court requires the support of the Office of the Registrar in the management of cases from the receipt of an application for leave to appeal up to and including the release of a judgment on appeal. This support includes providing services to the litigants; reviewing applications for leave to appeal and preparing advice as to whether leave to appeal should be granted; preparing summaries of the leave applications; providing procedural advice; reviewing and summarizing factums where leave to appeal is granted; receiving, controlling and preserving all incoming case documentation; tracking various time periods to ensure compliance by the parties with the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada; recording proceedings on appeals; answering queries with regard to cases; editing and summarizing decisions of the Court; publishing decisions in the Supreme Court Reports, in accordance with the Supreme Court Act; and providing law library services with an extensive collection in both print and electronic formats to support legal research undertaken by users within the Court and members of the legal community.

Planning Highlights

The Supreme Court has consistently met its performance targets in the areas of processing of cases without delay, providing effective access to Court services and programs, including reference information, and providing reliable courtroom services. At the same time, the Office of the Registrar has maintained stakeholder satisfaction and high standards of service quality. During the 2010-11 fiscal year, the Office of the Registrar has concentrated on improving the management and delivery of judicial support services and strengthening the information management program. As the Court Modernization Program enters its final stages, the Office of the Registrar has started to take full advantage of the considerable investments it has made in new technologies. In particular, the Court’s electronic document management system and word processing programs were upgraded and enhanced. During the coming year, further implementation of the Court’s information management program, movement towards greater electronic access, and improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency of work processes will all continue, moving the Court towards its long term vision.

Workload projections for 2011

Category	Projected workload
Leave applications filed	530
Leave applications submitted to the Court	530
Appeals as of right filed	15
Appeals heard	70
Judgments	74
Publication of Supreme Court Reports	9

 

Program Activity: Process payment of various allowances to Supreme Court Judges Pursuant to the Judges Act

Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ millions)
2011–12		2012–13		2013–14
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
0	5.6	0	5.5	0	5.5

Note:  No FTEs are assigned to this program activity because it relates to Judges who are not considered in the Supreme Court FTEs total.

Program Activity Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets
Timely and accurate processing of payments	% of payments processed within service standards	95%
	% of errors on payments	2%

Program Activity Summary

The Judges Act is an Act respecting all federally appointed judges, and it thereby applies to the judges of the Supreme Court of Canada. With respect to the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada, the Judges Act sets out the salaries of the Supreme Court judges, as well as prescribing other payments to judges, namely various allowances and annuities. The Office of the Registrar processes these payments as required in the Judges Act.

Planning Highlights

The timeliness of payments is assessed internally through maintenance of receipt and processing dates for individual claims. To assess accuracy, an independent organization was engaged to conduct a files review in 2010-11. While the review concluded that the error rate on a dollar value basis was within target, it also identified some opportunities to change processes to further improve results.

Program Activity:Internal Services

Human Resources (FTEs) and Planned Spending ($ millions)
2011-12		2012-13		2013-14
FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending	FTEs	Planned Spending
72	9.8	72	9.8	72	9.8

Program Activity Summary

Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of Court-wide programs and corporate obligations of an organization such as the Court. These activity groups are: Governance and Management Support, Resource Management Services as well as Asset Management Services. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply to the entire Court and not to those provided to a specific program.

Planning Highlights

The objective of the Office of the Registrar’s internal services is to support the Court’s core program activity by providing timely and responsive services that are effective and efficient as per the established service standards. Some key initiatives are:

• To implement quarterly financial reporting.

• To establish an internal control framework in anticipation of the April 2011 implementation of the Treasury Board Policy on Internal Control. Additional work will focus on documentation of key processes and assessment of internal controls over financial reporting. Preliminary work started in 2009-10 and it is expected that significant effort will be required to further prepare for the implementation of this policy and ongoing compliance requirements.

• To assess the delivery of security services, including a review of the governance model, policies, procedures and practices, training and awareness program as well as finalizing the BCP.

• The Office of the Registrar will focus efforts in Human Resources (HR) planning, monitoring and leadership development. The following are key activities planned for 2011-12:
  • Redoubling efforts to simplify HR planning and ensure a relevant and useful outcome. Efforts so far have lead to better staffing strategies and the Office of the Registrar will continue to make improvement, with a new outlook on roles and responsibilities in the planning process.
  • Continuing to monitor compliance with legislation and policy from Central Agencies as well as efforts on HR strategies and decisions.
  • Offering a number of generic learning events such as basic labour relations training for managers, followed by specific learning events as pinpointed by monitoring activities.
• The IT Sector is an integral part of the Court’s business as a partner and enabler, supporting a single business line. The following are key planned activities for 2011-12:
  • Extensive planning to prepare for the upgrade and realignment of key legacy applications (CMS/SCC Case) to mitigate risks to SCC operations.
  • Aiming for greater interoperability between new and older systems, and focus on getting the most out of the investments made in technologies over the last few years.
  • Assisting Court Operations in its business transformation objectives.
  • Responding and adapting to an increased demand for IT support, especially in the Judges Chambers.

C. Benefits for Canadians

The Supreme Court of Canada is Canada's highest court of law and the final general court of appeal for all litigants, whether they are individuals, corporations or governmental bodies. The Supreme Court of Canada stands at the apex of the Canadian judicial system and as such is a fundamental component of the Canadian government and its institutions.

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page