Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada - Report

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SECTION II – ANALYSIS OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES BY STRATEGIC OUTCOME

2.1 Strategic Outcome : An Independent and Efficient Federal Judiciary.

2.2 Program Activity by Strategic Outcome

The following section describes the program activities of the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada and identifies the expected results, performance indicators,targets, performance status and performance summary for each of them.

This section will contain a discussion of results of the following Program Activities:

2.2.1 Program Activity: Payments pursuant to the Judges Act

2011–12 Financial Resources ($ )

Planned Spending	Total Authorities*	Actual Spending*
* Excludes amount deemed appropriated to Shared Services Canada, if applicable.
$451 770	$459 803	$459 803

2011–12 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
0	0	0

Program Activity Performance Summary

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Actual Results
Accurate and timely processing and validation of claims received for expenses in compliance with the Judges Act and internal guidelines governing financial management.	Percentage of expense claims processed and validated for entry into tracking system Percentage of expense claims processed within service standard.	100% of expense claims compliant with Judges Act and departmental policies and guidelines. 90% of claims processed within service standard.	100% of all claims received were audited to ensure compliance to departmental policies and guidelines. 95.6% of claims were processed within the service standard.
Comprehensive, up-to-date and validated files are kept on all judges and their survivors.	Level of judges' satisfaction with services.	80% of judges satisfied with services.	The Client Satisfaction Survey indicated that only 2% of respondents were dissatisfied with the completeness and accuracy of files compared to 98% that were either very satisfied or satisfied.
Efficient and effective administration of Judges’ compensation and benefits programs and processes.	Percentage of compensation and benefits claims processed within service standard.	90% of compensation and benefits claims processed within service standard.	98% of Client Satisfaction Survey respondents were either very satisfied or satisfied.

Performance Analysis:

Compared to the previous fiscal year in 2011-12 there was a 0.5% decrease in the number of judges and a 1.3% increase in the number of pensioners in receipt of a pension pursuant to the Judges Act. Notwithstanding the workload volume, all judges and pensioners received timely payment of their salaries, allowances and annuities, in accordance with the Act. Results of the Client Satisfaction Survey indicated that judges are generally very satisfied with FJA services as satisfaction scores for each service were in the 80% or higher range. In support of FJA's strategic outcome, achieving high performance in this program activity ensures that the judiciary can continue to perform their professional duties efficiently and effectively, and without delay. The independence of the judiciary is ensured through the efficient independent delivery of compensation and benefits by FJA.

 

Lessons Learned:

The survey findings reinforced the importance of FJA continuing to sustain its strong service culture by maintaining current service levels and quality of service. Three areas crucial to achieving continuous improvement were: identifying points of contact, streamlining processes and timeliness of responses.

 

2.2.2 Program Activity: Canadian Judicial Council

2011–12 Financial Resources ($ millions )

Planned Spending	Total Authorities*	Actual Spending*
* Excludes amount deemed appropriated to Shared Services Canada, if applicable.
$1 707	$1 953	$1 921

2011–12 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
11	10	1

Program Activity Performance Summary

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Summary
Effective functioning of Canadian Judicial Council committees.	Satisfaction with the administration and support of committees.	Number of Committee Chairpersons satisfied with secretariat support.	The chairpersons reported being satisfied with CJC services.

Performance Analysis:

The Council is composed of the 39 Chief Justices and Associate Chief Justices of Canada’s superior courts. Its mandate is to promote efficiency, uniformity and accountability, and to improve the quality of judicial services in all superior courts of Canada. The Council is also responsible for reviewing complaints against the conduct of federally appointed judges.

During the course of the fiscal year, Council’s more than 25 Committees, Sub-committees and Working Groups met on a regular basis to undertake their work in line with the Council’s mandate. The Chairpersons of the various committees continue to be very satisfied with the level of support and advice they receive and rely on from the CJC secretariat.

As part of its mandate to support the Canadian judiciary, the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs provides administrative support services to the office of the Canadian Judicial Council.

 

Lessons Learned:

Priority setting by CJC members is essential and forms part of the annual process the Council undertakes to prioritize its work. In this respect the analysis of available resources is always a crucial part of the overall planning exercise undertaken each year.

 

2.2.3 Program Activity: Federal Judicial Affairs

2011–12 Financial Resources ($ millions)

Planned Spending	Total Authorities*	Actual Spending*
* Excludes amount deemed appropriated to Shared Services Canada, if applicable.
$8 231	$9 217	$8 585

2011–12 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
54	49	5

Program Activity Performance Summary

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Actual Results
1. Timely and accurate administration of the Order-in-Council process.	Percentage of Order-in-Council submissions prepared within service standards.	90% of submissions prepared within service standard.	100% of all Order-in-Council submissions were prepared within the service standard.
2. Fair and expeditious administration of the Judicial Appointments process.	Percentage of applications screened and referred to Advisory Committees in a timely manner.	95% of applications reviewed and verified within service standard.	100% of applications received were reviewed and verified within a three-month period.
3. Access to a trusted and reliable email and collaboration tool.	Percentage of time core system available to users. Percentage of judges satisfied with system.	Core systems available 98% of time on an annual basis. 75% of judges satisfied with system.	JUDICOM System availability was 99.9%. 76% of judges were satisfied or very satisfied with the JUDICOM system according to the Client Satisfaction Survey.
4. Federally appointed judges have access to timely, high-quality, and cost effective language training services.	Waiting time for judges to access training services.	90% of judges have access to language assessment and training services within service standard.	96% of judges feel that the language training received in the immersion session was useful. Overall, almost nine out of ten judges who have taken language training said they were satisfied with the service provided.
5. Timely, accurate and bilingual publishing of selected Federal Courts decisions.	Percentage of selected cases published within service standards. Number of Parts published per year. Number of erratums published per year. Percentage of decisions rendered published per year. Inclusion of quality value added features.	75% of selected cases are published within service standard. 12 parts published per year. No more than 5 erratums published per year. 5% of decisions rendered published per year. Canadians have access to accurate decisions that undergo thorough editorial process.	100% of case were published within service standards. 13 parts were published. Only 1 erratum was published in 2011-2012. 4% of decisions rendered were published. The FCR undergo a thorough editorial process that includes copy editing and citation verification, the preparation of headnotes and captions, and translation accuracy confirmation. In addition, a number of improvements were made to the publishing process.

Performance Analysis

Federal Judicial Affairs is a multi-faceted program activity benefiting those participating in the judicial appointments process, as well as federally appointed judges, the legal community and the general public through the publication of the Federal Courts Reports. In 2011-12 FJA either exceeded, met all or mostly met performance targets for the expected results of this program activity.

First, FJA’s achievement of a high standard for the timely and accurate administration of the order-in-council process and the judicial appointments process contributed to an independent judiciary. Candidates for judicial office were treated fairly and equitably in the process and effective and efficient support was provided to the Judicial Advisory Committees.

Second, FJA also provides timely and effective information technology collaboration tools and language training. Federally appointed judges were able to collaborate effectively, sharing information through JUDICOM, the information technology platform maintained by FJA. JUDICOM exceeded standards for system availability, and also exceeded the satisfaction target of 75%.

Thirdly, the ability of judges to function in both official languages was enhanced through FJA's efforts to ensure high quality and relevant language services were easily accessible. As indicated above, nine out of ten judges who have taken language training say they are satisfied with the service provided.

Finally, important decisions of the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal were made readily available to federally appointed judges, the legal community and the general public in a timely and accurate fashion through the publication of the Federal Courts Reports. In addition, a number of recommendations set out in a process review report were put into place. All of these changes resulted in improved productivity, efficiency and effectiveness of operations and service delivery.

 

Lessons Learned:

FJA strives to respond to the service needs of the judiciary by continuously assessing its performance and being very responsive to lessons learned. FJA employs three approaches for identifying opportunities to enhance service delivery.

The first is the Client Satisfaction Survey of judges originally conducted in 2008 with a follow up completed in 2011. This assessed the perceptions of judges regarding the achievement of the strategic outcome of FJA to support and promote judicial independence through services to federally appointed judges. The survey also collected performance assessments on each FJA program activity. FJA learned it can continuously enhance service by achieving: a) greater efficiencies through minimizing the number of steps in the process of providing service to judges; b) decreased timelines in obtaining service; and c) a central and consistent point of contact for judges to obtain service.

The second is related to the management and continuous improvement of an internal process for service delivery to judges. FJA has an ongoing initiative underway to improve service delivery. This is supported by diagnostics using performance measurement data to identify where efficiency of processes, timeliness of service and quality of customer contact could be improved.

Thirdly, FJA is refining and implementing its performance measurement system. FJA has learned that priority setting on the investment of staff and budget is an important factor of success in delivering consistent service quality according to standard. Management actively monitors the efficiency of each program activity against targets or standards. Improvements or corrective measures are identified and implemented.

Finally, as a result of the Management Accountability Framework (MAF) review conducted in 2008, FJA has made steps toward addressing the weaknesses identified in the areas of Information Management and Security. An Information Management Strategy has been developed with a target implementation of three years. Security Awareness Week activities were undertaken with the objective of providing training to staff and to raise security awareness within the organization.

As was noted in the previous MAF assessment, FJA received an acceptable or strong rating in the majority of areas of management, particularly corporate management and governance. Most importantly, Client Service was rated ‘strong’, reflecting the strong service orientation of FJA and the attention management pays to ensure high performance.

2.2.4 Program Activity: Internal Services

2011–12 Financial Resources ($ millions )

Planned Spending	Total Authorities*	Actual Spending*
* Excludes amount deemed appropriated to Shared Services Canada, if applicable.
$875	$875	$875

2011–12 Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
8	8	0

Program Activity Performance Summary

Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Summary
1. Resources are allocated and expended in a cost-effective manner in accordance with the department’s Strategic Plan.	Departmental lapse of resources.	Annual budgetary lapse under 5%.	Actual departmental lapse was 6.7%.
2. Department successfully attracts and retains the right people at the right time to meet its current and future business needs	Percentage of staff and management satisfied with Human Resources services.	80% of staff and management are satisfied with Human Resources services.	80% of staff and management are satisfied with Human Resources services.
3. A model workplace.	Percentage of staff satisfied with the organization.	80% of staff are satisfied with the organization.	79% of departmental staff would recommend FJA as a good place to work.
4. Information technology tools are available to meet departmental needs.	Percentage of time the systems are available to users.	Core systems available 98% of the time on an annual basis.	Core systems were available 99.9% of the time.

Performance Analysis

Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of the organization. These groups are: Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Material Services; Acquisition Services; and Travel and Other Administrative Services. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply across the organization and not to those provided specifically to a program.

In the last fiscal year FJA maintained its key IT systems. Our Web site achieved Common Look and Feel (CLFv2) compliance. The main internal operational systems, Human Resource Information System (HRIS) and financial system (Freebalance) and the e-mail and collaboration environment for the judges were maintained and remained functional more than 99% of the time.

FJA is a participant in the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS) and contributes to the Greening Government Operations target through the Internal Services program activity. The department contributes to Theme IV (Shrinking the Environmental Footprint-Beginning with Government) of the FSDS.

FJA is contributing to a reduced energy and HVAC consumption since the implementation of our Virtual Servers Environment where we consolidated more than 30 physical servers down to 5.

More energy efficient equipment are purchased or rented to replace the ones at end of life.

For additional details on FJA’s Greening Government Operations activities, please see the List of Supplementary Information Tables in Section III.

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