ARCHIVED - RPP 2007-2008
Public Prosecution Service of Canada

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SECTION II – ANALYSIS OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES BY STRATEGIC OUTCOME

Analysis by Program Activity

Description of Service

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada supports the Attorney General of Canada in the discharge of his criminal law mandate – in particular its work supports the priorities of prosecuting criminal offences under federal law, and contributing to strengthening the criminal justice system.

Over 50 federal statutes confer prosecution and prosecution-related responsibilities on the Attorney General of Canada; these duties are carried out by the PPSC. In all provinces except Quebec and New Brunswick, the PPSC has responsibility for the prosecution of all drug offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, regardless of whether a federal, provincial, or municipal police agency lays the charges. In Quebec and New Brunswick, the PPSC is responsible for drug charges laid by the RCMP. In addition, in all provinces, the PPSC prosecutes violations of federal statutes such as the Fisheries Act, the Income Tax Act, the Excise Act, the Customs Act, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and the Canada Shipping Act as well as conspiracies and attempts to violate these statutes. Pursuant to understandings with the provinces, the PPSC also prosecutes Criminal Code offences where drug charges are involved and are the focus of the case. In the three Territories, the PPSC is additionally responsible for prosecuting all Criminal Code offences.

Hence, the PPSC performs a number of key national roles. The PPSC fulfils the criminal litigation responsibilities of the Attorney General of Canada, including:

• legal advice to investigative agencies and government departments on the criminal law implications of investigations and prosecutions;
• litigation support during the investigative stage, including wiretap applications and orders to produce evidence;
• charge review and exercise of the Attorney General's discretion to prosecute;
• legal risk assessment and management, with the development of prosecution plans for the management of prosecutions of mega-cases;
• a role as prosecutor in all matters prosecuted by the Attorney General of Canada on behalf of the Crown;
• assistance to the Minister of Justice in extradition and mutual legal assistance matters; and
• a role as a centre of expertise for criminal law, national security and federal prosecution matters, and provision of policy advice in the development of amendments to federal statutes relevant to the criminal justice system.

Plans/Commitments

In support of its Strategic Outcome: Prosecution of criminal offences under federal law in a manner that is independent of any improper influence and respects the public interest, the PPSC will focus its efforts in the following areas in 2007-2008:

• Prosecution of drug, organized crime and Criminal Code offences;
• Prosecution of federal offences to protect the environment, natural resources, economic and social health;
• Addressing criminal issues, in the context of prosecutions, to contribute to a safer world for Canada;
• Promotion of a fair and effective justice system that reflects Canadian values within a prosecutorial context; and
• Ensuring the sustainability of the PPSC.

These, in turn, support the Government's Strategic Outcome of Safe and Secure Communities. The PPSC program activities are described in the following pages.

Strategic Outcome: Prosecute criminal offences under federal law in a manner that is independent of any improper influence and respects the public interest.

Part A: Strategic Overview – Delivering on priorities

Program Activity 1: Prosecution of drug, organized crime and Criminal Code offences

Financial Resources ($ millions)
2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010
99.2	102.9	101.5

Human Resources
2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010
573 FTE	595 FTE	587 FTE

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. The PPSC also under this program activity prosecutes organized crime cases, and, pursuant to understandings with the provinces, 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. It should be noted that the operational priority for prosecution-related advice during the investigative stage is primarily on highly complex and high legal risk cases.

Within this program activity, organized crime will continue to be the substantive priority for the PPSC in 2007-2008, reflecting the priority given to this issue by the federal government, federal police and other law enforcement authorities. During 2007-2008, the PPSC will continue to implement the Intensive Prosecution Strategy for Organized Crime; continue its focus on 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 on highly complex cases; serve as prosecutor on organized crime cases prosecuted by the Attorney General of Canada; and pursue proceeds of crime. While all PPSC regional offices prosecute organized crime cases, a number of the offices are involved in highly complex and resource-intensive cases that will continue through 2007-2008 and subsequent years, and will require dedicated teams of experienced counsel.

This program activity supports the priority of prosecuting criminal offences under federal law through prosecution and prosecution-related work on a projected volume of over 50,000 litigation files in 2007-2008. The key performance indicators on which the PPSC will report to Parliament will include the litigation and advisory caseload related to this program activity, the percentage of new organized crime litigation files with pre-charge advice provided by counsel by level of complexity, and the decisions on merit based on the most serious outcome by litigation file.

Program Activity 2: Prosecution of federal offences to protect the environment, natural resources, economic and social health

Financial Resources ($ millions)
2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010
19.9	19.0	18.2

Human Resources
2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010
115 FTE	110 FTE	105 FTE

Under this program activity, the PPSC provides prosecution-related advice and litigation support to federal investigative agencies, and prosecutes federal offences under 50 federal statutes. These types of prosecutions are referred to as "regulatory" prosecutions in the section of this report describing how we will assess our performance in support of the PPSC Strategic Outcome. Examples of these types of offences include: environmental offences under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, revenue offences under the Income Tax Act, and offences under the Fisheries Act. As well, the PPSC provides advice on and prosecutes complex capital market fraud cases. Specialized teams of prosecutors are dedicated to prosecutions where a specialized knowledge of legislation is required. By way of example, the Atlantic Regional Office has a dedicated team of counsel devoted full time to prosecuting fisheries offences. The Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver offices dedicate resources to economic crimes prosecutions. And, in the highly specialized area of the Competition Act, a small group of PPSC prosecutors are dedicated to this work.

This program activity supports the prosecution of criminal offences under federal law and prosecution-related work with a projected volume of over 5,000 litigation files in 2007-2008. The key performance indicators on which the PPSC will report to Parliament will include litigation and advisory caseload related to this program activity, the percentage of new litigation files with pre-charge advice provided by counsel by level of complexity, and the decisions on merit based on the most serious outcome by litigation file.

 

Program Activity 3: Addressing criminal issues, in the context of prosecutions, to contribute to a safer world for Canada

Financial Resources ($ millions)
2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010
5.1	5.0	4.8

Human Resources
2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010
30 FTE	29 FTE	28 FTE

Under this program activity, the PPSC prosecutes offences under such federal statutes as the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) Terrorist Financing Act, Customs Act, Excise Act, and the Excise Tax Act to combat trans-national crime and terrorism. As well, the PPSC may provide counsel to assist in the execution of extradition and mutual legal assistance requests before Canadian courts under the Extradition Act, and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act.

While this program activity is expected to involve a small number of cases, some of these cases are resource intensive. The key performance indicators on which the PPSC will report to Parliament include litigation and advisory caseload related to this program activity, the percentage of new litigation files with pre-charge advice provided by counsel by level of complexity, and the decisions on merit based on the most serious outcome by litigation file. It should be noted that in some cases these files can last many years before the decision on merit is reached by the Court, and consequently, the timing for reporting on some of the performance indicators may be delayed until the judicial proceedings are completed.

 

Program Activity 4: Promoting a fair and effective justice system that reflects Canadian values within a prosecutorial context

Financial Resources ($ millions)
2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010
1.1	1.0	1.0

Human Resources
2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010
6 FTE	6 FTE	6 FTE

Under this program activity, the PPSC contributes to the government priority of strengthening the criminal justice system across Canada and improving its efficiency by providing legal training to police, and by promoting federal/provincial/territorial cooperation within the prosecution community on shared issues.

The expected results include prosecutorial advice provided to law enforcement agencies, and initiatives undertaken with provincial and territorial heads of prosecution and other stakeholders to improve the justice system.

Ensuring the sustainability of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada

Over time, the workload of the predecessor organization, the Federal Prosecution Service, had increased in response to changes in the level of police resources; new priorities; and revised operational strategies. The growth in the caseload handled by PPSC counsel, particularly of organized crime cases and mega-cases, and the rising costs of cases, have strained the PPSC's capacity to deliver on its mandate.

Part B: How we will assess our performance in support of this Strategic Outcome

The following table shows the indicators that will be used to assess performance in the delivery of prosecution services over the reporting period in relation to the program activities described in the preceding sections. As well, it includes performance indicators and measures in relation to achieving excellence in managing for results, including legal risk management, referred to in Section IV of this report.

Elements	Indicators	Measures	Data Collection
Effective management of PPSC caseload	Caseload	Number of new litigation and advisory files that were opened in the fiscal year, plus carry-over files i.e. files opened in previous fiscal years against which time was recorded in the new fiscal year, for: Drug Organized crime and money laundering Criminal Code offences Extradition and mutual legal assistance Immigration law Public safety and anti-terrorism Regulatory prosecution	iCase file management system
	Complexity of caseload	Breakdown of the volume of work by complexity i.e. low, moderate, high, and mega-case complexity	iCase file management system
Effective pre-charge interventions/advice	New files where pre-charge advice provided	Percentage of new files where pre-charge advice provided by level of complexity, for: Organized crime Public safety and anti-terrorism Regulatory prosecutions	iCase file management system
Effective Prosecutions	Outcome of cases decided on merit	Percentage of cases decided on merit: Guilty pleas Guilty plea to lesser offence Conviction Conviction of a lesser offence	iCase file management system
Achieving excellence in managing for results, including legal risk management	Legal risks are identified and managed	Target of 97% of in-house counsel litigation cases are assessed and coded for legal risk	iCase file management system
	Legal and non-legal trends are monitored	Semi-annual PPSC legal trends reports produced	PPSC
	Improved PPSC data quality	95% completion of key data for new litigation files opened and files closed during the fiscal year, for in-house counsel files	iCase file management system
	Improved ability to report to Parliament	Annual Report to Parliament in June of each year, providing statistics on PPSC MRRS indicators for 2007-2008 and subsequent years	PPSC

 

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