ARCHIVED - RPP 2007-2008
Supreme Court of Canada

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III: Supplementary Information

A. Organizational Information

The Supreme Court of Canada comprises the Chief Justice and the eight Puisne Judges, all of whom are appointed by the Governor in Council. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest Court in Canada and one of its most important national institutions. It hears appeals from the decisions of the courts of appeal of the provinces and territories as well as from the Federal Court of Appeal. In addition, the Court is required to give its opinion on any question referred to it by the governor in Council. The importance of the decisions of the Court for Canadian society is well recognized. The Court assures uniformity, consistency and correctness in the articulation, development and interpretation of legal principles throughout the Canadian judicial system. Its jurisdiction is derived from the Supreme Court Act and other Acts of Parliament, such as the Criminal Code.

The Registrar, also a Governor in Council appointee, reports to the Chief Justice, and heads the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada. The organization of the Office of the Registrar is depicted in the following diagram and further explained in the paragraphs that follow.

Registrar

Appointed by the Governor General, the Registrar is the Deputy Head of the Court, answers directly to the Chief Justice and exercises quasi-judicial powers. Her office provides executive services to the chambers of the nine Judges, the office of the Executive Legal Officer, the law clerk program, and dignitary visits.

Deputy Registrar

The Deputy Registrar, a Governor in Council appointee, oversees the work of the Court Operations Sector, which includes the Registry Branch and the Law Branch. Public information services, including the management of the Court’s Tour Program, are also provided by staff in the Deputy Registrar’s Office.

Registry

The Registry is the hub of all procedural and documentary activities at the Court. The Registry processes, records and directs the flow of all documents filed by the parties and records all events which take place during the life of a case as well as preserving all documents forming the record of a case. It “cases manages” every leave application, appeal and motion to ensure that cases are dealt with efficiently, so that no time is wasted by Judges on procedural matters or incomplete filings. The Registry assists parties by providing information on the Court’s processes and activities, schedules the Court’s sittings, ensures support in the Courtroom during hearings and finalizes the documentation for cases after judgments have been rendered. It manages the Registrar’s case-related correspondence.

Law Branch

The Law Branch provides legal services to the Judges and the administration of the Court, and manages the publication of the judgments of the Court in both official languages. Staff lawyers provide legal opinions on all leave applications filed and legal editing of all reasons for decisions. The Branch also manages the Registrar’s correspondence and prepares and publishes the Bulletin of Proceedings and news releases which outline the Court’s agenda and listing judgments rendered or to be rendered.

Library and Information Services

Library and Information Services are provided by the: Library, Information Management and Technology Branch and Special Projects. Sector services are designed primarily to serve the Court and its business units, and through them litigants, the media and the public. These responsibilities extend to the corporate level where this centre of expertise is charged with ensuring that the management of the Court’s information meets legal and central agency requirements.

Corporate Services

The administrative and operational support to the Judges and Court staff is provided by Corporate Services, which is responsible for accommodation, finance, procurement, human resources, administration, security and strategic planning.

Departmental Links to Government of Canada Outcome Areas

The following table demonstrates the link between the Supreme Court of Canada’s strategic outcome and program activity and the Government of Canada’s Outcome Areas.

($ millions)

Budgetary 2007-08

Strategic Outcome: To provide the best possible decision-making environment for the Supreme Court of Canada
Program Activity	Operating	Gross Budgetary Expenditures	Less: Respendable Revenue	Net Budgetary Expenditures
Process hearings and decisions	31.8	31.8	-	31.8
Total	31.8	31.8	-	31.8

 

Program Activity	Total Main Estimates	Adjustments (Planned Spending not in Main Estimates)	Total Planned Spending
Process hearings and decisions	31.8	-	31.8
Total	31.8	-	31.8

The Supreme Court of Canada’s program activity contributes to the achievement of all of the Government of Canada’s outcome areas.

B. Financial Tables

Table 1: Departmental Planned Spending and Full Time Equivalents

($ millions)	Forecast Spending 2006-2007	Planned Spending 2007-2008	Planned Spending 2008-2009	Planned Spending 2009-2010
Process Hearings and Decisions
Budgetary Main Estimates (gross)	27.8	31.8	28.3	28.4
Non-Budgetary Main Estimates (gross)	-	-	-	-
Less: Respendable revenue	-	-	-	-
Total Main Estimates	27.8	31.8	28.3	28.4
Adjustments:
Procurement Savings	(0.1)	(0.1)	(0.1)	(0.1)
Supplementary Estimates:
Operating Budget Carryforward from 2005-2006	1.0	-	-	-
Compensation for collective agreements	0.3	-	-	-
Funding for the Courtroom Audio-Visual / Information Technology Project	1.5	-	-	-
Total Adjustments	2.7	(0.1)	(0.1)	(0.1)
Total Planned Spending	30.5	31.7	28.2	28.3
Less: Non respendable revenue Plus: Cost of services received without charge	(0.2)   5.5	(0.2)   5.5	(0.2)   5.6	(0.2)   5.7
Total Departmental Spending	35.8	37.0	33.6	33.8
Full Time Equivalents	191	191	191	191

Total Planned Spending reflects the approval of the Courtroom Audio-Visual / Information Technology Project, which will be taking place from 2006-2007 to 2008-2009. Note that project work during 2008-2009 will be funded within Supreme Court of Canada reference levels. No other major changes are anticipated at this time.

Table 2: Voted and Statutory Items
($ millions)

Vote or Statutory Item	Supreme Court of Canada	2007-2008 Main Estimates	2008-2009 Main Estimates
50	Program Expenditures	24.5	20.9
(S)	Judges' salaries, allowances and annuities, annuities to spouses and children of judges lumpsum payments to spouses of judges who die while in office.	5.0	5.1
(S)	Contributions to employee benefit plans	2.3	2.3
	Total Supreme Court of Canada	31.8	28.3

Table 3: Services Received Without Charge

($ millions)	2007-2008
Accommodation provided by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) Contributions covering employers’ share of employees’ insurance premiums and expenditures paid by TBS	4.6   0.9
Total 2007-08 Services received without charge	5.5

Table 4: Summary of Capital Spending by Program Activity

($ millions)	Forecast Spending 2006-2007	Planned Spending 2007-2008	Planned Spending 2008-2009	Planned Spending 2009-2010
Process Hearings and Decisions	1.9	2.6	1.0	0.5
Total	1.9	2.6	1.0	0.5

Table 5: Sources of Respendable and Non-Respendable Revenue

Respendable Revenue

($ millions)	Forecast Revenue 2006-2007	Planned Revenue 2007-2008	Planned Revenue 2008-2009	Planned Revenue 2009-2010
Process Hearings and Decisions	-	-	-	-
Total Respendable Revenue	-	-	-	-

Non-Respendable Revenue

($ millions)	Forecast Revenue 2006-2007	Planned Revenue 2007-2008	Planned Revenue 2008-2009	Planned Revenue 2009-2010
Process Hearings and Decisions
Judge's contributions towards annuities	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Sales of goods, services and information products	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Total Non-Respendable Revenue	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Total Respendable and Non-respendable Revenue	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2

Table 6: Resource Requirement by Branch or Sector

	2007-2008
($ millions)	Process Hearings and Decisions	Total Planned Spending
Executive Services	5.7	5.7
Court Operations	7.4	7.4
Library and Information Services	6.1	6.1
Corporate Services	7.6	7.6
Payments Pursuant to the Judges' Act	5.0	5.0
Total	31.8	31.8

Table 7: Details on Project Spending

The SCC continued work on two significant projects in 2006-2007. The first project is a refit of the SCC building’s east entrance, and is designed to improve both the accessibility to and security of the building. Funding for this project in the amount of $773,000 was approved by Treasury Board. The project was originally expected to be completed in 2006-2007, but due to construction delays is now planned for completion early in 2007-2008.

The SCC also commenced work on a project to replace the existing audio-visual equipment in the courtroom, and to add modern information technology capabilities. Because the court hearing schedule limits the time available to implement the project, the completion date of this project is anticipated to be in 2008-2009. This project received Effective Project Approval and expenditure authority in October, 2006. Funds totalling $5.1M were approved for 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. The total cost of the project is estimated at $6.5M, with the difference to be funded from existing reference levels.

Supplementary information on project spending can be found at http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/20062007/p3a-eng.asp.

($ millions)	Current Estimated Total Cost	Forecast Spending to March 31, 2007	Planned Spending 2007-2008	Planned Spending 2008-2009	Planned Spending 2009-2010
Process hearings and decisions
East entrance refit	1.0	1.0	-	-	-
Courtroom audio-visual and information technology	6.2	2.0	3.7	0.5	-

Table 8: Internal Audits

Name of Internal Audit	Audit Type	Status	Expected Completion Date
Contracting and Procurement Audit	Assurance Audit	In progress	March 2007
Link to Internal Audit Plan: In line with the Treasury Board Internal Audit Policy, future internal audits for small departments and agencies, will be centralized at, and conducted by the Office of the Comptroller General (OCG) on a horizontal basis. The OCG has not as yet established its plan for upcoming internal audits. The policy allows small departments and agencies the option, if deemed necessary, to conduct additional internal audits. At this point in time, the Office of the Registrar has not determined whether this will be required.

Evaluation: The Supreme Court of Canada does not have a program evaluation function due to the nature of the work it is mandated to achieve. The Office of the Registrar assesses and reports on its performance through annual Departmental Performance Reports (http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/aboutcourt/Performance/index-eng.asp).

C. Contacts for Further Information

Supreme Court of Canada Building 301 Wellington Street Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0J1 World Wide Web: http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/	General Enquiries Telephone: (613) 995-4330 Fax: (613) 996-3063 Internet Access reception@scc-csc.gc.ca
Anne Roland - Registrar Telephone: (613) 996-9277	E-mail: reception@scc-csc.gc.ca
Louise Meagher - Deputy Registrar Telephone: (613) 996-7521	E-mail: registry-greffe@scc-csc.gc.ca
Carolyn McDonald - Director General, Corporate Services Telephone: (613) 996-0429	E-mail: mcdonaldc@scc-csc.gc.ca

D. Listing of Statutory and Departmental Reports

Supreme Court Reports Pursuant to section 17 of the Supreme Court Act, the Registrar or the Deputy Registrar, as the Chief Justice directs, is responsible for the publication of the judgments of the Court in the Supreme Court Reports, which include all the reasons for judgment rendered by the Court in a given calendar year.

E. Legislation Administered

Supreme Court Act        R.S.C., 1985, C.S-26 as amended Judges Act                      R.S.C., 1985, C.J-1 as amended

 

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