ARCHIVED - Courts Administration Service

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page

This page has been archived.

Section II — Analysis Of Program Activities By Strategic Outcome

Analysis by Program Activity

Detailed Analysis of Program Activities

The Service has only one business line, providing administrative services to the Courts. Its objective is to provide Canadians with the services needed to ensure responsible use of public money, to support the administration of the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada and the Tax Court of Canada, and to facilitate access to the Courts without compromising the principle of judicial independence. This business line is divided into three interrelated programs: Registry Services, Judicial Services and Internal Services.

Strategic Outcome:

The public has timely and adequate access to the litigation processes of the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada and the Tax Court of Canada.

Program Activity Name: Registry Services

Financial Resources

Human Resources

FTE – Full Time Equivalent

Program Activity Description in Accordance with Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

The Registry Services process legal documents and applications for judicial review under the jurisdiction of the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada and the Tax Court of Canada. It also ensures the proper court records management and adequate operation of the litigation and court-access process.

Program Activity Name: Judicial Services

Financial Resources

Human Resources

FTE – Full Time Equivalent

Program Activity Description in Accordance with Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

The Judicial Services, which provides direct support to all the Justices, includes judicial assistants, law clerks who assist judges in their research and in editing judgments, as well as library services, which provides information in support of the decision making process.

Program Activities Supporting Priority 1

Priority 1:

Modernization of our business processes and registry services operations.

Program Activity: Provide Registry Services

Key Initiatives

The realization of a new integrated Case Management System (CMS) is considered a vital strategic step in our efforts to modernize the services provided by the organization to the Courts and their clients. A new CMS will establish a core set of case management functionalities for the business of all four Courts. As new capabilities are introduced in the CMS, the dependency on, and the need for the current automated systems in place (Proceedings Management System for the Federal Court and the Court of Appeal, and Appeals Systems Plus for the Tax Court) will be eliminated over a period of several years. Therefore the development of the Service’s new CMS will continue to be a priority in 2008-2009.

Phase 2 of the development of the CMS can be envisaged as the development of a single electronic repository for the receipt, storage and subsequent management of all court documents and other information received. The completion of this phase will follow the successful integration of five key initiatives (described below) either currently being developed or already in pilot mode.

The ultimate vision is for an electronic court file which mirrors the contents of the official hard copy file, which is readily accessible by Registry staff and the Judiciary. Having the contents of the official court file captured and mirrored in a digital environment constitutes a significant risk management strategy for the Service, and facilitates Business Continuity Planning as well.

E-Filing

Electronic filing (e-filing) is a web-based means of facilitating the interaction of parties with the Registry of the Courts. Documents can be submitted at any time of the day through secure channels, providing an additional and efficient means of access to the Courts. Depending on the Court, rule changes are either being considered or have already been made, eliminating the need for parties to submit hard copy versions when electronic filing is used.

For the client, advantages include ease of access, timeliness, convenience and cost savings in their dealings with the courts. For the Registries, e-filing allows documents to be captured and managed electronically, and brings reduced processing costs and improved service to the public. E-filing is an integral component of the move to the creation of a new case management system for the four Courts whereby all court documents will be captured, stored and managed in a central repository.

Digital Recording

Another trend in courts and tribunals is moving away from having a court reporter present to record the hearings on analog cassettes to the use of digital recording solutions, which capture the audio and save it in digital format on a computer server. This allows the audio recording to be integrated into the electronic repository for immediate access and playback by Registry staff and the Judiciary.

The use of contract court reporters is extremely expensive and introduces delays in the disposition of a case if the presiding Justice requires a hard copy transcript to be produced by the firm. In addition, it is a risk to the Courts in that the availability of quality court reporters is not consistent. Direct access to audio playback through the use of digital recording will eventually eliminate the Courts’ need for most transcripts, and in the interim will eliminate the need to pay for a court reporter to be present at the hearing. These are significant savings that can be realized by the Service as we move to implement this technology solution.

E-Scanning

There is a pilot project currently under way, which consists of scanning and transmitting in digital format all documents requested by our Toronto Regional Office from the Registry in Ottawa. This has significantly reduced printing, copying and shipping costs between these two points of service. With advancements in technology, the introduction of “smart”, multifunctional and all-in-one solutions that provide print, fax, photocopy and scanning capabilities in one network machine is now commonplace and will be implemented across the Service in due course.

This is another key element in the electronic capture of court documents; the long term objective is to scan all hard copy documents received by the Registries in order to upload them into the Case Management System.

E-Faxing

The e-faxing project consists of the electronic receipt of documents faxed by litigants to the Registries. This process is transparent to the Courts’ clients, and it allows digital uploading of documents received by fax into the Case Management System. This technology has been in place for several years at the Registry of the Tax Court and a similar solution will be proposed for all points of service.

Transmittal of Judgments, Orders and Reasons

The Judgments, Orders and Reasons Project currently under way enables the Service to store and access Judgments, Orders and Reasons issued in a single electronic repository and eliminates significant handoffs of paper copies. Timely transmission of Judgments, Orders and Reasons to parties will be improved and automated, with an eventual anticipated reduction in costs related to use of registered mail and other methods of delivery. A standardized naming convention for these documents will be put in place in order to allow for efficient uploading into the new Case Management System.

The next three years:

We are working with the Treasury Board Secretariat to discuss funding options to allow the Service to move forward in a timely fashion with the implementation of these projects and to modernize the registry services of the four courts.

The plan for 2008-2009 is to migrate functionalities from existing case management systems to allow all file/case details to be entered into the new CMS. Recorded entries will also be supported for all courts using the new application.

The CMS will be expanded with a scheduling module planned for 2009-2010. This phase will deliver a common interface for the new CMS for all scheduling information such as hearings, sittings, courtrooms, and judges’ schedules. Schedule data can be shared between courts.

A correspondence module will also be developed in 2010-2011. This phase will allow for outgoing correspondence to be generated for all courts using server based technology. It will also provide storage for all documents in a central document management server.

The timelines for all phases above are subject to adjustment to ensure client requirements are met throughout.

Program Activities Supporting Priority 2

Priority 2:

Implementation of a comprehensive, dynamic and fully integrated work environment to support the delivery of our services to clients and the judiciary.

Program Activity: Registry Services

Key Initiatives

Physical Consolidation and Harmonization of Staff in the NCR

Employees located in the Lorne Building in Ottawa provide registry services for the Federal Court of Appeal and the Federal Court. The Lorne Building has been home to the Registry since 1992. Health and safety issues, ranging from asbestos contamination to poor air quality, have always been a problem in this facility. In recent years, the Service has increased its efforts to persuade Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) to find replacement space and to relocate its employees to a more suitable and healthy work environment.

The Service’s persistence has proven successful. PWGSC has identified and committed space in the Thomas D’Arcy McGee Building (TDM) to accommodate the Registry Services. Planning is underway and the Registry will move out of the Lorne Building in the fall of 2008. This project will result in further consolidation of the Service’s operations under one roof. Funding options for the fit-up portion of this project will be pursued with PWGSC since the Lorne Building is earmarked for demolition and reconstruction within a few years.

In the longer term, the Service will continue to negotiate arrangements with PWGSC to consolidate all of its operations in the TDM building as space becomes available for occupancy.

Human Resources

The Human Resources Services Division is actively involved in managing the rewriting of generic Registry work descriptions. Having current and complete work descriptions will facilitate the movement of employees within Registry Services and meet the new requirements of the CMS. The Learning Centre will work closely with the Operational Training Unit in support of this modernized CMS to ensure that Registry staff is fully trained. This project will be completed over the next few fiscal years.

Operational Training Division

This division's mission is to provide timely quality training to employees at the Service, who serves the four courts. This includes preparation, development and delivery of an operational training program adapted to the current and future needs of the organization. An average of 75 training sessions is offered yearly in both official languages, at the employee's choice.

In this strategic period of succession planning, training is an essential element for employee retention and career development. Among the priorities for the coming year, integrating learning principles relating to digital recording in courtrooms into the courses and contributing to the development of a training and leadership program for the organization are of note. Cross-training Registry employees to serve the public from a common access point is ongoing.

Moreover, developing certain online courses as self-directed training is highly desirable and should be the subject of a thorough study in 2008-2009.

Modernization of Human Resources

The Service received funding from the Special Investment Fund for the implementation of Human Resources Modernization under the Public Service Modernization Act. To this effect, a contract was signed in January 2008 covering the period January 2008 to March 2009 to work on the following initiatives:

• ensuring all managers have an integrated business and human resources plan
• development of policies and procedures (resulting in full sub delegation of staffing authorities to managers by March 2009)
• development of a communications strategy
• development of monitoring frameworks
• learning/training

Internal resources will develop competency profiles and educational requirements for all positions.

Management Accountability Framework (MAF)

The Service went through its first MAF exercise in 2006. A detailed action plan will be prepared and implemented over the next fiscal year to prepare the organization for the 2008 MAF assessment.

Reporting, Accountability and Transparency

The Service is determined to follow and promote the federal government's priorities in terms of accountability, reporting and transparency. We are renewing our efforts to improve our management procedures to develop our performance measures and to adopt a healthy risk management approach. These new work methods will allow us to gain greater flexibility and encourage innovation to more effectively handle our ever-changing operational environment. Therefore, over the next three years, we will pursue our efforts as follows:

In the short term, over the next fiscal year, the Service will prepare and implement a detailed action plan to respond to the 2006 Management Framework exercise.

Governance Model

A new governance model outlining the decision-making process within the Service will be developed this fiscal year. The framework will delineate the structure, terms of reference and membership of the various committees established to provide sound decision-making and direction within the Service.

Program Activity: Judicial Services

Key Initiatives

The Service, through ongoing dialogue with the Courts, the relevant Bar Associations and the Rules Committee, and by employing emerging technologies such as electronic service of legal documents and electronic issuance of Court Directions and Judgments, will strive to improve the Courts’ accessibility.

In order to improve court practices and procedures, biannual meetings are held with the National Canadian Bar Association and the Bar Liaison Committee and other specialized practice groups to exchange information on Court practice issues and initiatives and to ensure a better understanding of how the Courts work. Also, Court hearings are held at law faculties to facilitate understanding of the Courts’ work.

In order to improve client services, the Service will work with the Courts to develop court practice guides for self-represented litigants.

The upgrade and expansion of the integrated library management system with remote hosting of its database and the expansion of access to electronic information sources will improve access to alternate sources of information for the Judiciary, members of the Bar and self represented litigants.

• Previous Page
• Table of Contents
• Next Page