BILL C-30 (First Reading)

	1st Session, 37th Parliament, 49-50 Elizabeth II, 2001
	House of Commons of Canada
	BILL C-30
	An Act to establish a body that provides administrative services to the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court and the Tax Court of Canada, to amend the Federal Court Act, the Tax Court of Canada Act and the Judges Act, and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts
	Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
	SHORT TITLE
Short title	1. This Act may be cited as the Courts Administration Service Act.
	PURPOSES OF ACT
Purposes	2. The purposes of this Act are to
	(a) facilitate coordination and cooperation among the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court and the Tax Court of Canada for the purpose of ensuring the effective and efficient provision of administrative services to those courts;
	(b) enhance judicial independence by placing administrative services at arm's length from the Government of Canada and by affirming the roles of chief justices and judges in the management of the courts; and
	(c) enhance accountability for the use of public money in support of court administration while safeguarding the independence of the judiciary.
	COURTS ADMINISTRATION SERVICE
Establish- ment of Service	3. The Courts Administration Service (in this Act referred to as the ``Service''), consisting of the Chief Administrator of the Service and employees of the Service, is hereby established as a portion of the public service of Canada.
Principal office	4. (1) The principal office of the Service shall be in the National Capital Region described in the schedule to the National Capital Act.
Other offices	(2) The Chief Administrator may, after consultation with the Chief Justices of the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court and the Tax Court of Canada, establish other offices of the Service elsewhere in Canada.
	CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR
Appointment	5. (1) The Governor in Council shall appoint the Chief Administrator to hold office during pleasure for a term of up to five years.
Re-appoint- ment	(2) The Chief Administrator is eligible for re-appointment at the end of each term of office.
Consulta- tions	(3) The Minister of Justice shall consult the Chief Justices of the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court and the Tax Court of Canada with respect to the appointment and re-appointment of the Chief Administrator and, if applicable, the termination of the Chief Administrator's appointment.
Status of Chief Administrator	(4) The Chief Administrator shall have the rank and status of a deputy head of a department.
Absence or incapacity	(5) If the Chief Administrator is absent or incapacitated or the office of Chief Administrator is vacant, the Minister of Justice shall appoint another person to act as Chief Administrator. That person may not act as Chief Administrator for more than 90 days unless the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice after consultation by that Minister with the Chief Justices of the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court and the Tax Court of Canada, confirms that the person may continue to act as Chief Administrator.
Powers, duties and functions	(6) The person acting as Chief Administrator has all of the powers, duties and functions of the Chief Administrator under this Act or any other Act of Parliament.
Salary and expenses	6. (1) The Chief Administrator shall receive the remuneration that may be fixed by the Governor in Council and is entitled to be paid reasonable travel and living expenses incurred in the performance of his or her duties and functions under this Act while absent from the Chief Administrator's ordinary place of work.
Compensation	(2) The Chief Administrator is deemed to be a person employed in the Public Service for the purposes of the Public Service Superannuation Act and to be employed in the public service of Canada for the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and any regulations made under section 9 of the Aeronautics Act.
	POWERS, DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR
Chief Administrator	7. (1) The Chief Administrator is the chief executive officer of the Service and has supervision over and direction of its work and staff.
Powers	(2) The Chief Administrator has all the powers necessary for the overall effective and efficient management and administration of all court services, including court facilities and libraries and corporate services and staffing.
Duties and functions	(3) The Chief Administrator, in consultation with the Chief Justices of the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court and the Tax Court of Canada, shall establish and maintain the registry or registries for those courts in any organizational form or forms and prepare budgetary submissions for the requirements of those courts and for the related needs of the Service.
Limitation	(4) The powers of the Chief Administrator do not extend to any matter assigned by law to the judiciary.
	CHIEF JUSTICES
Judicial functions	8. (1) The Chief Justices of the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court and the Tax Court of Canada are responsible for the judicial functions of their courts, including the direction and supervision over court sittings and the assignment of judicial duties.
Included powers	(2) The direction and supervision over court sittings and the assignment of judicial duties include, without restricting the generality of those terms, the power to
	(a) determine the sittings of the court;
	(b) assign judges to sittings;
	(c) assign cases and other judicial duties to judges;
	(d) determine the sitting schedules and places of sittings for judges;
	(e) determine the total annual, monthly and weekly work load of judges; and
	(f) prepare hearing lists and assign courtrooms.
Directions by Chief Justice	(3) Officers, clerks and employees of the Service shall act at the direction of a chief justice in matters that are assigned by law to the judiciary.
Directions by judge	(4) The persons referred to in subsection (3) who are assigned to or present in a courtroom shall act at the direction of the judge presiding over proceedings in the courtroom while the court is in session.
Direction to Chief Administrator	9. (1) A chief justice may issue binding directions in writing to the Chief Administrator with respect to any matter within the Chief Administrator's authority.
Statutory Instruments Act not to apply	(2) The Statutory Instruments Act does not apply to directions issued under subsection (1).
	STAFF OF THE SERVICE
Staff to be public servants	10. The officers, clerks and employees who are required for the purposes of the Service shall be appointed under the Public Service Employment Act.
	CONTRACTING FOR SERVICES
Experts	11. The Chief Administrator may engage on a temporary basis experts or persons who have specialized knowledge for the purposes of advising and assisting the Chief Administrator in the performance of his or her duties and functions in any matter.
	REPORT TO PARLIAMENT
Annual report	12. (1) The Chief Administrator shall, within six months after the end of each fiscal year, send to the Minister of Justice a report on the activities of the Service for that year.
Tabling in Parliament	(2) The Minister of Justice shall have a copy of the report laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first 15 days on which that House is sitting after the day on which the Minister receives the report.
R.S., c. F-7	AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL COURT ACT
	13. *The long title of the Federal Court Act* is replaced by the following:**
	An Act respecting the Federal Court of Appeal and the Federal Court
	14. Section 1 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Short title	1. This Act may be cited as the Federal Courts Act.
	15. (1) The definitions ``Associate Chief Justice'', ``Chief Justice'', ``Court'', ``Court of Appeal'', ``Federal Court of Appeal'', ``judge'' and ``Trial Division'' in subsection 2(1) of the Act are repealed.
1990, c. 8, s. 1(3)	(2) The definition ``federal board, commission or other tribunal'' in subsection 2(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
``federal board, commission or other tribunal'' « office fédéral »	``federal board, commission or other tribunal'' means any body, person or persons having, exercising or purporting to exercise jurisdiction or powers conferred by or under an Act of Parliament or by or under an order made pursuant to a prerogative of the Crown, other than the Tax Court of Canada or any of its judges , any such body constituted or established by or under a law of a province or any such person or persons appointed under or in accordance with a law of a province or under section 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867;
	(3) Subsection 2(1) of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:
``Registry'' « greffe »	``Registry'' means a registry established by the Chief Administrator of the Courts Administration Service pursuant to the Courts Administration Service Act for the purposes of this Act.
1992, c. 49, s. 127; 1993, c. 34, s. 68(F); 1996, c. 22, s. 1	16. The heading before section 3 and sections 3 to 6 of the Act are replaced by the following:
	THE COURTS
Federal Court - Appeal Division continued	3. The division of the Federal Court of Canada called the Federal Court - Appeal Division is continued under the name ``Federal Court of Appeal'' in English and ``Cour d'appel fédérale'' in French. It is continued as an additional court of law, equity and admiralty in and for Canada, for the better administration of the laws of Canada and as a superior court of record having civil and criminal jurisdiction.
Federal Court - Trial Division continued	4. The division of the Federal Court of Canada called the Federal Court - Trial Division is continued under the name ``Federal Court'' in English and ``Cour fédérale'' in French. It is continued as an additional court of law, equity and admiralty in and for Canada, for the better administration of the laws of Canada and as a superior court of record having civil and criminal jurisdiction.
	THE JUDGES
Constitution of Federal Court of Appeal	5. (1) The Federal Court of Appeal consists of a chief justice called the Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal , who is the president of the Federal Court of Appeal, and 10 other judges.
Supernumerar y judges	(2) For each office of judge of the Federal Court of Appeal, there is an additional office of supernumerary judge that a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal may elect under the Judges Act to hold.
Additional office of judge	(3) For the office of Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal , there is an additional office of judge that the Chief Justice may elect under the Judges Act to hold.
Judges of Federal Court	(4) Every judge of the Federal Court is, by virtue of his or her office, a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal and has all the jurisdiction, power and authority of a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal.
Constitution of Federal Court	5.1 (1) The Federal Court consists of a chief justice called the Chief Justice of the Federal Court, who is the president of the Federal Court, and 19 other judges.
Supernumerar y judges	(2) For each office of judge of the Federal Court, there is an additional office of supernumerary judge that a judge of the Federal Court may elect under the Judges Act to hold.
Additional office of judge	(3) For the office of Chief Justice of the Federal Court, there is an additional office of judge that the Chief Justice may elect under the Judges Act to hold.
Judges of Federal Court of Appeal	(4) Every judge of the Federal Court of Appeal is, by virtue of that office, a judge of the Federal Court and has all the jurisdiction, power and authority of a judge of the Federal Court.
Appointment of judges	5.2 The judges of the Federal Court of Appeal and the Federal Court are to be appointed by the Governor in Council by letters patent under the Great Seal.
Who may be appointed judge	5.3 A person may be appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal or the Federal Court if the person
	(a) is or has been a judge of a superior, county or district court in Canada;
	(b) is or has been a barrister or advocate of at least 10 years standing at the bar of any province; or
	(c) has, for at least 10 years,
	(i) been a barrister or advocate at the bar of any province, and
	(ii) after becoming a barrister or advocate at the bar of any province, exercised powers and performed duties and functions of a judicial nature on a full-time basis in respect of a position held under a law of Canada or a province.
Judges from Quebec	5.4 At least four of the judges of the Federal Court of Appeal and at least six of the judges of the Federal Court must be persons who have been judges of the Court of Appeal or of the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec, or have been members of the bar of that Province.
Rank and precedence	6. (1) The Chief Justices of the Federal Court of Appeal and the Federal Court and the other judges of those courts have rank and precedence among themselves in the following order:
	(a) the Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal;
	(b) the Chief Justice of the Federal Court;
	(c) the other judges of the Federal Court of Appeal, according to seniority determined by reference to the respective times when they became judges of the Federal Court of Canada or the Federal Court of Appeal; and
	(d) the other judges of the Federal Court, according to seniority determined by reference to the respective times when they became judges of the Federal Court of Canada or the Federal Court.
Absence or incapacity of a Chief Justice	(2) If the office of Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal or the office of the Chief Justice of the Federal Court is vacant, or the Chief Justice of either court is absent from Canada or is for any reason unable or unwilling to act, the powers and duties of the Chief Justice shall be exercised and performed by the senior judge of the same court who is in Canada and is able and willing to act and who has not elected to hold office as a supernumerary judge under section 28 of the Judges Act .