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Section II — ANALYSIS OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES BY STRATEGIC OUTCOME

Analysis by Program Activity

Strategic Outcome

The Courts Administration Service is committed to realizing the following strategic outcome:

The public has effective, timely and fair access, in either official language, 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 Architecture

The Service's Program Activity Architecture consists of three program activities – Registry Services, Judicial Services and Corporate Services.

Registry Services

These services provide the Courts with litigation processes support.  This includes processing documents filed by or issued to litigants, attending court sittings, recording proceedings, providing information to litigants, preserving the records and information base required by the Courts and issuing legal instruments to enforce the Courts' decisions.

Financial Resources:


Planned Spending

Authorities

Actual Spending

$40.1M

$43.2M

$42.5M


Human Resources:


Planned (FTE)

Authorities

Difference

427

389

38


FTE – Full Time Equivalent

Judicial Services

These services provide judicial support to the judges and prothonotaries, as well as to executive officers, judicial assistants, library employees, revisers/jurilinguists, law clerks and other staff who provide direct support to the judiciary in fulfilling its responsibilities.

Financial Resources:


Planned Spending

Authorities

Actual Spending

$22.1M

$23.8M

$24.1M


Human Resources:


Planned (FTE)

Authorities

Difference

228

217

11


FTE – Full Time Equivalent

Corporate Services

Please refer to text in Section IV – Other Items of Interest.


Priority 1

Implementing a comprehensive, dynamic and fully integrated people management strategy which will support all employees in the efforts of consolidating the Service


Program Activity:   Registry Services
Key Initiative:        Relocation of Staff from the Lorne Building


Expected Results

Results Achieved

Improved employee well-being.
- provide an adequate and suitable work environment

A proposal by PWGSC offering to move all the staff from the Lorne Building, 90 Elgin Street in Ottawa, to the Thomas D'Arcy McGee Building at 90 Sparks Street in Ottawa.

PWGSC is proposing to move all the staff of the Service currently working at 90 Elgin Street in Ottawa to the premises at 90 Sparks Street in Ottawa, which will be fitted out for the registry of the Federal Court of Appeal and the Federal Court by summer 2008.


Key Initiative:          Harmonization of Registries


Expected Results

Results Achieved

Increased citizen-focused services.
- enhance the use of our resources and provide a common access point for the public

Completion of the co-location initiative in Toronto.
Increased capacity to serve clients of all four Courts in the Service's ten points of service across the country.
Creation and staffing of formal Operational Training Division.

Co-location of Regional Offices was completed with the move of the Ontario Regional Office in 2006.  The Service has made great advances in providing staff with tools, training and exchange opportunities with a view to ensuring that all registry staff are familiar with the rules, practices and procedures of the four Courts they support.
An Operational Training Division was created and staffed, and now provides a variety of specialized training courses to staff across the country.  Practice and procedures manuals have been reviewed and updated, and new reference materials developed, in order to further support and assist staff.


Key Initiative:          Implementation of Outreach Activities


Expected Results

Results Achieved

Increased visibility, awareness and understanding of the services provided by the Courts Administration Service.
- heighten public awareness of judicial independence

Maintaining a positive and productive network with the judicial community and foreign delegations.

The Service continued its discussions and networking by means of various interdepartmental meetings and continues to maintain a forum of exchange with various foreign delegations which allows the Service to be known as a model of excellence in the administration of justice.


Program Activity:   Judicial Services

Key Initiative:        Review of Judicial Services


Expected Results

Results Achieved

Increased efficiencies throughout the Service and lower operational costs.
-allocate appropriate resources to requirements, and enhance fiscal accountability and service delivery

Significant reduction in translation and posting of court decisions.  Negotiation of revised agreement including performance indicators with the Translation Bureau.

The Judicial Services Directorate undertook an in-depth analysis of its workflow in order to optimize the translation to posting process of court decisions. Aside from this internal review, the Service also negociated a new agreement with the Translation bureau that will ensure specific delivery deadlines for our translation requests.


 

Priority 2

Promoting innovation and pursuing modernization of business practices and processes


Program Activity:   Registry Services

Key Initiative:        Electronic Filing


Expected Results

Results Achieved

Modernization of operational activities to reflect best practices and improve procedures.
- ensure our current registry operations can accommodate more cases involving e-filing

350 e-filings received for intellectual property cases. Activities undertaken to expand the project scope in order to include other areas of the court's jurisdiction such as immigration and admiralty.

The Canada Revenue Agency has proposed the expansion of the e-filing project to allow for electronic filing of income tax/GST certificates. Since early 2006, representatives from CRA have worked closely with the e-filing project team to explore the legal and technical issues related to this proposal. This expansion is a direct result of the small but measured success we have enjoyed with the intellectual property pilot project. It is also the result of a strong partnership with Lexis Nexis, a service provider which facilitates connection between users.


Key Initiative:          Digital Recording


Expected Results

Results Achieved

Modernization of operational activities to reflect best practices and improve procedures.
- complete a feasibility study, purchase the hardware and software and implement the system in the courtrooms

Business plan for digital recording on track.

Digital recording is a component of the Case Management System for which the Service is proposing to seek funding from the Treasury Board (TB). A detailed business case will be developed and reviewed to ensure funding requirements for digital recording form part of an overall IT integration strategy.


Key Initiative:          Electronic Courtrooms


Expected Results

Results Achieved

Modernization of operational activities to reflect best practices and improve procedures.
- improve service delivery and accessibility to court proceedings

A business plan combining various e-components in development.

The electronic courtroom is the culmination of several initiatives such as wireless display of evidence, Internet access in the courtroom, document management software and digital recording. The latter is a component of the Case Management System. A detailed business case will be developed and reviewed to ensure funding requirements of digital recording form part of an overall IT integration strategy.


Key Initiative:          New Case Management System


Expected Results

Results Achieved

Greater efficiency throughout the Service and decrease in operational costs.
- provide the registries with the tools required to better serve the public as well as harmonize internal processes through a new case management system

Upgrade of several components to allow for the disposal of old technology supporting the existing system.
Functional and detailed design established for phase 1.

The server platform is aging and unsupported, new functions cannot be added, problems and downtime are more frequent and unacceptable. The software has been upgraded to run from a web browser. In phase 1, the existing systems will maintain the functions currently provided to the four Courts on an upgraded technical platform to provide greater stability and a suitable environment for future development.

The Case Management System is the heart of interdependent components such as e-filing, digital recording, e-faxing, and Judgment and Orders. This entire integrated solution is a major component of the modernization initiative.


Key Initiative:          Modernization of Practices and Procedures 


Expected Results

Results Achieved

Modernization of operational activities to reflect best practices and improve procedures.
- deliver our services to citizens more effectively

Improvements made in the areas of scanning and electronic transmittal and receipt of documents, review of fees and fee structures, transmission of decisions to parties, and harmonization of practices across courts.

Several immediate changes have been made to existing practices and procedures, and pilot projects, such as document scanning and filing date uniformity for e-filing and scanned documents, have been implemented in other areas further to the review of current workflows.
Through the implementation of initiatives such as electronic filing and the design of a new Case Management System, opportunities for immediate efficiencies and service improvements have been identified and acted upon.


Program Activity:   Judicial Services

Key Initiative:          Construction of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Judicial Building (PETJB)


Expected Results

Results Achieved

Increased efficiencies throughout the Service and lower operational costs.
-meet long-term accommodation requirements of the Courts; reduce operating costs, improve visibility and simplify security requirements

No longer identified as a key initiative.

The Service has identified other means to maximize synergy and efficiencies without the construction of a new building. The Service has reached an agreement with PWGSC to secure additional space in the Thomas D'Arcy McGee Building to accommodate employees currently located in the Lorne Building. The last component will be to relocate judges and registry staff of the Tax Court of Canada and Corporate Services in the Thomas D'Arcy McGee building. This will complete our accommodation strategy for Ottawa.


Key Initiative:          Toronto Federal Judicial Centre Project (FJC)


Expected Results

Results Achieved

Increased efficiencies throughout the Service, including improved security of judges and staff and greater capacity to meet case management workload.
- reduce operational costs and offer to the public a single access and information point

All Toronto Local Office staff now located in one location to offer a single access and information point for the public.
Project completed on time and under budget.

The planning and implementation of the move of the Toronto registries, which were located at 200 King Street West and 330 University Avenue, were completed successfully. The registries moved to the new premises at 180 Queen Street West in Toronto.

A greater harmonization of registry services to the public has resulted in a more transparent and efficient delivery of services to the clients.


Key Initiative:          Vancouver Federal Judicial Centre Project (FJC)


Expected Results

Results Achieved

Space optimization of tenant requirements to maximize utilization.
- optimize space to reduce real estate costs

Space optimization study completed.

As a result of the review of registry services to the public as well as to the four Courts, the Service has identified surplus space requirements to Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC).