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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.
The office 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.
In terms of the Canadian Judicial Council, it 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 and its staff reports to the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs but is accountable to the Chief Justice of Canada in serving the needs of the Council. Our 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 Judges Act; Canadian Judicial Council; and Federal Judicial Affairs (FJA).
These activities strive to meet our priorities of: client services; corporate planning and reporting; communications; information management; and security.
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.
Marc Giroux
Acting Commissioner
I submit for tabling in Parliament, the 2008-2009 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 Guide for the Preparation of Part III of the 2008-2009 Estimates: Reports on Plans and Priorities and Departmental Performance Reports:
Name: Marc Giroux
Title: Acting Commissioner
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 :
|
Results for CanadiansUnder 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. |
Program Activity Architecture – Reporting Structure
Vote or Statutory Item | Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording |
|
|
---|---|---|---|
20 |
Operating expenditures |
7,772,000 |
7,368,000 |
25 |
Canadian Judicial Council-Operating expenditures |
1,594,000 |
1,594,000 |
(S) |
Judges' salaries, allowances and annuities, annuities to spouses and children of judges, and lump sum payments to spouses of judges who die while in office. |
397,971,000 |
390,465,000 |
(S) |
Contributions to employee benefit plan |
824,000 |
847,000 |
Total Department or Agency |
408,161,000 |
400,274,000 |
|
Forecast Spending |
Planned Spending |
Planned Spending |
Planned Spending |
---|---|---|---|---|
Payments Pursuant to the Judges Act |
390.5 |
398.0 |
412.2 |
425.9 |
Canadian Judicial Council |
1.7 |
1.7 |
1.7 |
1.7 |
Federal Judicial Affairs |
8.1 |
8.8 |
8.4 |
8.4 |
Budgetary Main Estimates (gross) |
400.3 |
408.5 |
422.3 |
436.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Less: Respendable revenue |
.2 |
.3 |
.3 |
.3 |
Total Main Estimates |
400.1 |
408.2 |
422.0 |
435.7 |
Adjustment |
|
|
|
|
Supplementary Estimates |
|
|
|
|
Public Service Modernization Act |
.2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Federal Accountability Act |
.3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Compensation, Benefits and HR Unit |
.2 |
0 |
.0 |
0 |
Succession Plan |
(.1) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Other |
|
|
|
|
Treasury Board Vote 15 |
|
|
|
|
Employee Benefit Plan (EBP) |
|
|
|
|
Total Adjustments |
.6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Total Planned Spending |
400.7 |
408.2 |
422.0 |
435.7 |
|
|
|
|
|
Total Planned Spending |
400.7 |
408.2 |
422.0 |
435.7 |
Less: Non-respendable revenue |
12.3 |
12.9 |
13.4 |
13.9 |
Plus: Cost of services received without charge |
1.5 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
Total Departmental Spending |
389.9 |
396.8 |
410.1 |
423.3 |
|
|
|
|
|
Full-time Equivalents |
68 |
72 |
70 |
70 |
2008-2009 | 2009-2010 | 2010-2011 |
---|---|---|
$408,161,000 | $421,971,000 | $435,730,000 |
2008-2009 | 2009-2010 | 2010-2011 |
---|---|---|
72 | 70 | 70 |
Name | Type |
---|---|
1. Client Services | Ongoing |
2. Corporate Planning and Reporting | Ongoing |
3. Communications | Ongoing |
4. Information/Management Systems | Ongoing |
5. Security | Ongoing |
Strategic Outcome: An independent and efficient federal judiciary. | Planned Spending | Contributes to the following Priority | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
2008-2009 | 2009-2010 | 2010-2011 | ||
Payments Pursuant to the Judges Act | $397,971,000 | $412,185,000 | $425,944,000 | All priorities |
Canadian Judicial Council | $1,683,000 | $1,683,000 | $1,683,000 | All priorities |
Federal Judicial Affairs | $8,507,000 | $8,103,000 | $8,103,000 | All priorities |
In recent years, our world has had to come to grips with dramatic challenges. 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.
Attention must be drawn to other significant factors particular to FJA such as requests for services from provincial court judges and other key actors in 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.
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 70 employees, the Office serves more than 1,053 judges and 777 pensioners and survivors, 138 Advisory Committee members and over 600 applicants for judicial appointment. FJA administers a budget in excess of $400 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.
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, bilingualinternal 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 jobs 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 fully funded 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.
FJA envisions itself as a unique service provider to the Canadian judiciary, renowned for efficiency, sound management and a good working environment. Five initiatives have been established as priorities. Implementing these priorities is expected to 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 initiatives on Human Resources will need to be assessed, planned and well integrated.
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's primary duty and responsibility is to provide all federally appointed judges with administrative support services that they require to fully carry out their judicial mandate. By listening to its clients and monitoring the judicial environment, FJA can identify the judges' needs, present and future, and effectively adjust resources and operations to meet them.
FJA must also pay special attention to the needs of its other clients, i.e. pensioners and survivors, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Canadian Judicial Council, Parliament, Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee members and judicial candidates, and enhance the quality of existing services when needed and offer new services where feasible.
The core of FJA services to the judiciary is statutory in nature: judges salaries, allowances and annuities. However, the demand of the non-statutory portion that is departmental resources to support the members of the judiciary, grows each year due to requests from judges and other clients for improved or additional services or both.
The performance indicators associated with this priority would include:
In response to recent requirements of the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Corporate Planning initiative will create has created 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:
The performance indicators associated with this priority would include:
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 and standardize 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, 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.
The goal of the Information Management/Systems initiative is to improve and develop information management systems that support business programs and to improve the effectiveness of FJA's management of information, data and knowledge resource holdings.
One of the expected benefits is to reduce 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:
The performance indicators for this initiative include:
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 and to ensure FJA is compliant with the Government Security Policy.
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: