ARCHIVED - RPP 2006-2007
Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs

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SECTION I – OVERVIEW

Commissioner's Message

The Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs (FJA) was created in 1978 to safeguard the independence of the judiciary and to put federally appointed judges at arm' s length from the administration of the Department of Justice. It exists to promote the better administration of justice and focuses its efforts on providing a sound support role to the federal judiciary.

It administers three distinct and separate components that are funded from three very distinct sources. Statutory funding is allocated for the judges' salaries, allowances and annuities and surviving beneficiaries' benefits. Voted appropriations are provided in two separate votes to support the administrative activities of the Office of the Commissioner and the administrative activities of the Canadian Judicial Council.

The Canadian Judicial Council is made up of the Chief Justices and Associate Chief Justices of Canada. The Council acts independently in the pursuit of its mandate of fostering the better administration of justice in Canada. The Council is served by a small office, the Executive Directors staff report to Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs but is accountable to the Chief Justice of Canada in serving the needs of the Council. My office provides administrative and financial support and advice to the Council in support of its mandate.

The administration of the Office of the Commissioner is structured to reflect the distinctiveness of its role in supporting federal judicial activities. Under the Program Activity Architecture, the organization is broken down into three program activities: Payments Pursuant to the Judges Act; Canadian Judicial Council; and Federal Judicial Affairs (FJA).

These activities strive to meet our priorities of: developing organizational capacity; building a strong integrated team; improving service delivery; enhancing communications; and managing information.

Success in fulfilling these priorities is determined through measurement strategies which assess the level of achievement of key results. FJA prides itself in providing a consistent, high level of service to federally appointed judges.

David Gourdeau

Management Representation Statement

I submit for tabling in Parliament, the 2006-2007 Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) for
the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs.

This document has been prepared based on the reporting principles contained in the Guide to the Preparation of Part III of the 2006-2007 Estimates: Reports on Plans and Priorities and Departmental Performance Report.

• It adheres to the specific reporting requirements outlined in the TBS guidance;
• It is based on the department's approved program activity architecture as reflected in its MRRS;
• It presents consistent, comprehensive, balanced and accurate information;
• It provides a basis of accountability for the results achieved with the resources and authorities entrusted to it; and
• It reports finances based on approved planned spending numbers from the Treasury Board Secretariat in the RPP.

Summary Information

Reason for Existence – Section 73 of the Judges Act provides for the establishment of an officer called the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs who shall have the rank and status of a deputy head of a department.  Section 74 sets out the duties and functions of the Commissioner. The Office of the Commissioner : administers Part I of the Judges Act by providing judges of the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Tax Court of Canada and federally appointed judges of provincial and territorial superior courts with salaries, allowances and annuities in accordance with the Judges Act; prepares budgetary submissions and provides administrative services to the Canadian Judicial Council; and undertakes such other missions as the Minister of Justice may require in connection with any matters falling, by law, within the Minister's responsibilities for the proper functioning of the judicial system in Canada.

Results for Canadians

Under the Canadian constitution, the judiciary is independent from the executive and legislative branches of government. Judicial independence is intended to ensure that judges make decisions free of influence, based solely on the facts and the law. Once appointed, a judge is eligible to serve on the bench until retirement (age 75 for federally appointed judges). Judges must also receive adequate remuneration in such a manner that does not leave them in a position of dependence or subject to pressure. In Canada, governments cannot change judges' salaries or benefits or remove judges from office without going through an appropriate, independent procedure.

Financial Resources

2006-2007	2007-2008	2008-2009
$359,632,000	$370,842,000	$370,842,000

Human Resources

2006-2007	2007-2008	2008-2009
69	69	69

Departmental Priorities

	Type	Planned Spending
		2006-2007	2007-2008	2008-2009
Develop organizational capacity	Ongoing	100,000	100,000	100,000
Build a strong, integrated team	Ongoing	100,000	100,000	100,000
Improve service delivery	Ongoing	500,000	TBD	TBD
Enhance communications	Ongoing	100,000	100,000	100,000
Manage information	Ongoing	200,000	300,000	200,000

Departmental Plans and Priorities

External Environment

Since the year 2001, our world has had to come to grips with dramatic challenges that many, previously, would have deemed a fantasy.  While security issues raised are not new to our country, Canada's focus on and commitment to resolving them have intensified.  The unprecedented emphasis the government now puts on security in all its operations is a result of this situation and is  unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

One must also draw attention to other significant factors particular to FJA such as requests for services from provincial court judges and other key actors among the judicial community, including numerous opportunities for judicial partnerships both within and outside Canada.  These new or growing priorities will continue to add more pressure on FJA to perform better and faster and to provide new services and to enhance existing ones.

FJA recognizes that it operates within a technology-driven world economy where mandates, demands, constraints, partnerships and the unforeseen are part of the landscape, and where the government sets the national priorities and management and accountability framework. 

Internal Environment

FJA's internal environment is complex, due in part to the small size of its organization, which tends to understate the importance of its role within government.  With only about 69 employees, the Office serves more than 1,047 judges and 733 pensioners and survivors, 112 Advisory Committee members and over 560 applicants for judicial appointment.  FJA administers a budget in excess of $359 million annually which pays for judges' salaries, allowances and annuities, relocation and travel expenses as well as covering the costs of running the Office (informatics, training, finance, administration and other related expenses). It provides other services to judges including language training. It also provides services to the  legal community through the publication of the Federal Courts Reports as well as services to the Minister of Justice through the operation of the Judicial Appointments Secretariat. FJA must comply with the same central agency expectations and requirements (comptrollership, management and accountability systems, etc.) as do larger departments that enjoy core, specialized resources in the fields of planning, communications, human and financial administration and evaluation.

These compelling responsibilities take a heavy toll on the human and financial resources that ought to be fully dedicated to serving the needs of FJA clients.  Thus, the implementation of certain aspects of the modern comptrollership concept or the Public Service Modernization Act, by way of example, could be imperilled without the provision of resources.   

After completion of the restructuring of FJA and some of its service delivery mechanisms, most of which have been accomplished, a light, flexible, highly professional entity will emerge and be the pride of its members.  Unanimous in praising the professionalism and remarkable work of departmental employees, senior management acknowledges that there is still room for improvement in providing them with the right tools and creating a work environment conducive to optimal performance.  Such an environment encompasses strong leadership based on effective, bilingual internal communication, clearly delineated responsibilities, agreed-upon expectations, staff/management training and employee participation in discussions and decisions that might have an impact on them on their job or even on the future of this organization.

Short and medium-term retirement of managers and staff members may well exacerbate the Office's vulnerability.  It is not unusual for small organizations that lack adequate succession planning or face employee turnover to experience sporadic organizational uncertainty. 

In 1995, FJA initiated international judicial partnerships through the Canadian International Development Agency. Commencing with Ukraine, partnerships with Russia, Ethiopia, China and other countries quickly followed.  FJA remains involved in promoting and facilitating participation by members of the Canadian judiciary in a number of international co-operation projects. 

Management Priorities

During the course of fiscal year 2005-2006, the Office continued with its Transformation Initiative. The impetus for the Transformation Project originates from the Commissioner's commitment in November 2003 that FJA would enhance its capacity to deliver effective and efficient services to the federal judiciary. As limited internal resources are available to reallocate to this priority for the department, a Treasury Board submission seeking preliminary project approval and funding will be submitted to the Treasury Board Secretariat during the course of fiscal year 2006-2007.

An environmental scan was completed by Consulting and Audit Canada in September 2004 which revealed that the organizational structure was sound, and client (judges) satisfaction was cited as high.

FJA envisions itself as a "best-in-class" provider to the Canadian judiciary, as an exemplary workplace in which colleagues and partners are highly valued and as an organization where FJA employees strive to exceed client expectations. Six initiatives have been established as priorities. Implementing these priorities is expected to significantly change the way FJA manages its operations, delivers its services, and facilitates the way FJA managers and employees relate to one another, their clients and partners. The impact of these six initiatives on Human Resources will need to be assessed, planned and well integrated.

Corporate Planning

The Corporate Planning initiative will create a formal system of corporate policy development, planning, performance management and program evaluation which integrates Human Resource Planning.

By having a formal system for corporate policy development, planning, performance management and program evaluation, FJA will be able to ascertain that the services it provides to judges, the Canadian Judicial Council, and to the Minister of Justice are in accordance with established policies and are effective and efficient.

The work plan includes the need for the development of a Corporate Policy, Planning and Evaluation Framework that describes and tracks a full range of  initiatives contemplated within the scope of this initiative. This plan would include:

• initiatives contemplated within the scope of this priority
• defining critical success factors associated with this priority
• a description of interim and final deliverables
• a schedule of steps leading to the preparation of deliverables and identification of resource requirements; and
• a proposal of the internal and external resources required for each step in the schedule, quantified and qualified.

The performance indicators associated with this priority would include:

• an Approved Framework and Plan;
• an Evaluation of each initiative in Corporate Policy, Planning and Evaluation Framework; and
• Human resource planning integrated with corporate planning.

Business Process Review

The goal of the Business Process Review initiative is the improvement of FJA service delivery processes. The intent is to improve levels of service by finding ways to work smarter and to maximize new technologies in product development and delivery.

The Business Process Review initiative includes a workflow analysis of five existing work areas:

• Judges' Language Training Program
• Federal Courts Reports Publication process
• Finance and Administration
• Communications and Information Systems
• Judges' Administration

The performance indicators for this priority will include:

• Implementation of recommendations contained in the review of the Judges' Language Training Program
• Completed documentation on Federal Courts Reports Publication process
• Completed documentation of Finance and Administration processes
• Completed documentation of Communications and Information Systems processes
• Completed documentation of Judges' Administration processes
• Completed Organizational structural review

Communications

The goal of the Communications initiative is to improve how effectively FJA managers, employees, clients and partners communicate with each other. The primary goal is to improve internal communications throughout the various layers of the FJA organization, as well as across organizational boundaries.

The Communications initiative will propose and develop needs-based communications strategies, approaches, and vehicles to improve the way knowledge and information is developed and shared among FJA managers and employees. The scope of the initiative includes collection and dissemination of administrative and related information among managers and employees. It also includes the effective use of electronic communication channels and vehicles such as e-mails, e-surveys, e-learning, chat rooms, as well as communication events like committee meetings and Commissioner's Town Hall meetings. The development and enhancement of practical communication skills includes writing, editing , presentation, interviewing, listening, facilitation, team building, positive thinking, mentoring, and coaching.

The performance indicators for this initiative will be based on comments and feedback received from managers, employees, clients and partners on the success of this initiative.

Information Systems

The goal of the Information Systems initiative is to overturn FJA's heavy reliance on manual processes, and introduce efficiencies through the adoption of automated information transfer mechanisms.

This entails the creation of integrated systems to reduce manual processes, eliminate redundant and home grown systems, and facilitate automated information transfer. The design and implementation must follow the systems development approach required in TB procedures and guidelines for the management of information systems projects.

The Information Systems initiative includes a review of two legacy systems currently in place:

• Judicial Appointments Secretariat System
• Compensation and Benefits System.

The performance indicators for this initiative include:

• Conceptual design of revised Judicial Appointments Secretariat System
• Conceptual design of revised Judicial Compensation and Benefits System

Information Management

The goal of the Information Management initiative is to improve the effectiveness of FJA's management of information, data, and knowledge resource holdings.

This initiative entails a comprehensive review of FJA information and data holdings and requirements, as well as the policies and systems used to identify and define, collect and create, store and preserve, access and disseminate FJA knowledge and information.

The performance indicators will include:

• Completed review of information and data holdings
• Implementation of an enterprise reporting tool

Security

The goal of the Security initiative is to create a single point of reference for all aspects of security, including physical security of FJA clients, employees, visitors, facilities, data, information and systems.

This initiative entails all current and foreseeable FJA roles and responsibilities for providing security to individuals, information, knowledge, data, systems, equipment, and facilities. The concerns for individual security extend to the security of clients, managers, employees, visitors, partners and suppliers. The range of issues includes FJA strategies, policies, procedures, and protocols, as well as all issues of accountability, responsibility, and authority for all aspects of security.

The performance indicators will include:

• Physical security in place
• Security concerns included in all workplans

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