Merci, monsieur le président.
As the chair has indicated, I am the director and general counsel of the judicial affairs section of the Department of Justice. To give you a brief overview of the role of my office, the judicial affairs section provides expert legal and policy advice to the Minister of Justice, the deputy minister, as well as all other government officials about any matter touching on the courts and the judiciary in Canada.
On the request of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs, my section also provides legal advice with respect to the administration of part I of the Judges Act and related matters. Those are the provisions relating to compensation and benefits of the Superior Court judiciary in Canada.
As director of judicial affairs, I support and provide advice to the deputy minister and minister on all major judicial policy and legal issues, particularly as they arise in the parliamentary and cabinet context. The judicial affairs section is responsible for the development and coordination of all legislative policy initiatives, including amendments to the Judges Act. My section develops policy and coordinates all government input into compensation and other issues having financial implications for the government. We prepare all necessary cabinet documentation and supporting materials and we provide legislative drafting instructions on all new and amended legislation.
One of the key roles my section plays for the department and for the government is in relation to the Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission. I and senior litigation counsel, the deputy ADAG for civil litigation, are responsible for developing the government submission to the quadrennial commission and all aspects of that process before the commission.
Once the commission has reported, my section supports the Minister of Justice in responding and implementing commission recommendations through the cabinet and parliamentary processes, including before the House of Commons committee and Senate committee and, of course, has appeared at this committee a number of times in relation to those issues.
We also fulfill the policy development function with respect to the other acts governing what we refer as the section 101 courts: the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, Tax Court, Court Martial Appeal Court, and all related subordinate legislation. For example, we were responsible for the development of the policy and implementation of the Courts Administration Service Act in 2003. That services the section 101 courts other than the Supreme Court of Canada.
We have a number of other liaison functions with major judicial organizations, for example. We are involved in all major litigation that involves the judiciary in any way, up to the Supreme Court of Canada, so we would be instructing clients, if you like, to counsel in relation to cases such as the P.E.I. judges case and Bodner, which members are familiar with, I know.
That's a brief snapshot of what my section does, and what I do. I'll now explain what we don't do in the judicial affairs section, and that may help you appreciate why I may not be particularly helpful to the committee today, although I certainly hope I can be in some respects.
As Mr. Giroux has indicated, for reasons of independence--that is, to put judicial appointments at arm's length from appearance of influence by the chief litigator before our courts, the Department of Justice--the appointments process is administered by the commissioner's office. Neither the Deputy Minister of Justice, nor the judicial affairs section, nor any other official in the Department of Justice has any direct involvement in any aspect of the judicial appointments process. We are involved in neither the establishment nor the operations of the judicial appointments committees.
That said, where requested by the Minister of Justice, we do provide policy support for reforms to the judicial appointments process—as I said, if it has been requested. For example, in judicial affairs, we have provided major policy support to two successive governments, the previous government and the current government, in relation to developing options for reforms to the process changes for appointments to the Supreme Court of Canada. In doing so, we have undertaken comparative work that identifies the elements of the various commission models that are in place in Canada. We have charts that describe, on a comparative basis, the various elements of those processes. I also have material that provides a brief overview of the status of judicial appointments processes in a number of Commonwealth jurisdictions. I would be happy to share that with the committee if that were useful to your work.
That's essentially my overview, Mr. Chairman. I would be happy to answer any questions that I'm able.