No, from a legislative standpoint, it operated as an independent agency prior to the 1995 reform. Subsequently, responsibility for the Bureau of Pensions Advocates was transferred to the department. The advocates who now handle the cases form a division within the department. There are about forty lawyers in all spread across the country and they work in a totally independent manner. They are not instructed to handle files in a particular way. They are fully autonomous in terms of preparing their cases.
On February 15th, 2007. See this statement in context.