CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="no-js" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <script src="//assets.adobedtm.com/be5dfd287373/bb72b7edd313/launch-e34f760eaec8.min.js"></script> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta property="dcterms:accessRights" content="2"/> <meta property="dcterms:service" content="JUS-Internet"/> <meta content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1" name="viewport"> <meta name="dcterms.creator" content="Government of Canada, Department of Justice, Electronic Communications"> <meta name="dcterms.subject" content="justice, law, judicial system, legal system, legislation, statute, act, regulation, legislative process, amendment, canadian government" title="scheme"> <meta name="dcterms.language" title="ISO639-2" content="eng"> <link href="/GCWeb/assets/favicon.ico" rel="icon" type="image/x-icon"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://use.fontawesome.com/releases/v5.8.1/css/all.css" integrity="sha384-50oBUHEmvpQ+1lW4y57PTFmhCaXp0ML5d60M1M7uH2+nqUivzIebhndOJK28anvf" crossorigin="anonymous"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/themes-dist/GCWeb/css/theme.min.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/eng/css/site.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/eng/css/laws-lois.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/css/bootstrap.css?v=8"> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/css/custom.css?v=7"> <title>About Us</title> <meta name="dcterms.title" content="About Us"> <meta name="dcterms.issued" content="2001-08-02" title="W3CDTF"> <meta name="dcterms.modified" content='2021-08-05' title="W3CDTF"> <meta name="description" content="Department of Justice Canada's Internet site">  <script src="//cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/ScrollMagic/2.0.7/ScrollMagic.min.js"></script> <script> // init controller var controller = new ScrollMagic.Controller(); </script>  <script src="/js/jquery.min.js"></script>   <script src="/js/jquery.indymasonry.js"></script> <script src="/js/jquery.indyfadebox.js"></script>  <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Montserrat" rel="stylesheet"> </head> <body vocab="http://schema.org/" typeof="webPage"> <nav> <ul id="wb-tphp" class="wb-init wb-disable-inited"> <li class="wb-slc"><a class="wb-sl" href="#main-content">Skip to main content</a></li> <li class="wb-slc"><a class="wb-sl" href="#wb-info">Skip to "About government"</a></li> <li class="wb-slc"><a class="wb-sl" rel="alternate" href="?wbdisable=true">Switch to basic HTML version</a></li> </ul> </nav> <header> <div id="wb-bnr" class="container"> <section id="wb-lng" class="text-right"> <h2 class="wb-inv">Language selection</h2> <ul class="list-inline margin-bottom-none"> <li><a href="/eng/includes/changelanguage.aspx" lang="fr">Français</a></li> </ul> </section> <div class="row"> <div class="brand col-xs-5 col-md-4"> <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en.html" rel="external"><img src="/themes-dist/GCWeb/assets/sig-blk-en.svg" alt="Government of Canada" property="logo"></a> </div> <section id="wb-srch" class="col-lg-8 text-right"> <h2>Search</h2> <form action="https://www.canada.ca/en/sr/srb.html" method="get" name="cse-search-box" role="search" class="form-inline ng-pristine ng-valid"> <div class="form-group"> <label for="wb-srch-q" class="wb-inv">Search Canada.ca</label> <input name="cdn" value="canada" type="hidden"> <input name="st" value="s" type="hidden"> <input name="num" value="10" type="hidden"> <input name="langs" value="en" type="hidden"> <input name="st1rt" value="1" type="hidden"> <input name="s5bm3ts21rch" value="x" type="hidden"> <input id="wb-srch-q" list="wb-srch-q-ac" class="wb-srch-q form-control" name="q" type="search" value="" size="34" maxlength="170" placeholder="Search Canada.ca"> <input type="hidden" name="_charset_" value="UTF-8"> <datalist id="wb-srch-q-ac"> </datalist> </div> <div class="form-group submit"> <button type="submit" id="wb-srch-sub" class="btn btn-primary btn-small" name="wb-srch-sub"><span class="glyphicon-search glyphicon"></span><span class="wb-inv">Search</span></button> </div> </form> </section> </div> </div> <nav id="wb-cont-menu" class="gcweb-v2 gcweb-menu" typeof="SiteNavigationElement"> <div class="container"> <h2 class="wb-inv">Menu</h2> <button type="button" aria-haspopup="true" aria-expanded="false"><span class="wb-inv">Main </span>Menu <span class="expicon glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-down"></span></button> <ul role="menu" aria-orientation="vertical" data-ajax-replace="https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/canada/sitemenu/sitemenu-v2-en.html"> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/jobs.html">Jobs and the workplace</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship.html">Immigration and citizenship</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://travel.gc.ca/">Travel and tourism</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/business.html">Business and industry</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits.html">Benefits</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health.html">Health</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes.html">Taxes</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment.html">Environment and natural resources</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/defence.html">National security and defence</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/culture.html">Culture, history and sport</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/policing.html">Policing, justice and emergencies</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/transport.html">Transport and infrastructure</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="http://international.gc.ca/world-monde/index.aspx?lang=eng">Canada and the world</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/finance.html">Money and finances</a></li> <li role="presentation"><a role="menuitem" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/science.html">Science and innovation</a></li> </ul> </div> </nav> <br> <div class="well well-sm brdr-rds-0 hght-inhrt"> <section class="alert alert-warning mrgn-bttm-0 mrgn-tp-sm mrgn-lft-xl mrgn-rght-sm"> <h3>Starting November 15, 2024, possible Canada Post mail delays</h3> <p>Mail delivery to and from this service may be delayed by a Canada Post labour disruption. Find other options on the <a href="/eng/contact/index.html">Contact Us</a> webpage. </p> </section> </div> <nav id="wb-bc" property="breadcrumb"> <h2>Breadcrumb trail</h2> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <ol class="breadcrumb"> <li><a href="/eng/index.html">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/eng/abt-apd/index.html">About Us</a></li> </ol> </div> </div> </nav> </header> <main property="mainContentOfPage" typeof="WebPageElement" class="container" id="main-content"> <div class="main-content"> <h1 id="wb-cont" property="name">About Us</h1> <p>The Department of Justice has the mandate to support the dual roles of the <a href="/eng/abt-apd/min.html">Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of Canada</a>. </p> <p>Under Canada's federal system, the administration of justice is an area of shared jurisdiction between the federal government and the provinces and territories. The Department supports the Minister of Justice in his responsibilities for 49 statutes and areas of federal law by ensuring a bilingual and bijural national legal framework principally within the following domains: criminal justice (including youth criminal justice), family justice, access to justice, Aboriginal justice, public law and private international law.</p> <p>The Department also supports the Attorney General as the chief law officer of the Crown, both in terms of the ongoing operations of government and of the development of new policies, programs and services for Canadians. The Department provides legal advice to the Government and federal government departments and agencies, represents the Crown in civil litigation and before administrative tribunals, drafts legislation and responds to the legal needs of federal departments and agencies.</p> <h2>Responsibilities</h2> <p>The Department of Justice was officially established in <a href="/eng/abt-apd/hist.html">1868</a>, when the <a href="http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/J-2/index.html"><em>Department of Justice Act</em></a> was passed in Parliament. The Act laid out the roles and responsibilities of the Department as well as those of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.</p> <p>The Department of Justice fulfills three distinctive roles within the Government of Canada. It acts as:</p> <ul> <li>a policy department with broad responsibilities for overseeing all matters relating to the administration of justice that fall within the federal domain—in this capacity, it helps to ensure a fair, relevant and accessible justice system for all Canadians; </li> <li>a provider of a range of legal advisory, litigation and legislative services to government departments and agencies; and </li> <li>a central agency responsible for supporting the Minister in advising Cabinet on all legal matters.</li> </ul> <h2 id="so">Strategic Outcomes</h2> <p>The Department of Justice Canada has two strategic outcomes that reflect the dual role of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada: </p> <ul> <li><strong>A fair, relevant and accessible justice system that reflects Canadian values. </strong></li> <li><strong>A federal government supported by high-quality legal services</strong></li> </ul> <p>The Department of Justice Canada contributes to the achievement of these strategic outcomes: </p> <ul> <li>working with partners across the federal, provincial and territorial levels of government and with stakeholders across Canada to develop and maintain a fair, relevant and accessible justice system that responds to Canadians’ needs and expectations; </li> <li>ensuring a bilingual and bijural national legal framework for the administration of justice by developing policies, laws and programs to strengthen the national framework; </li> <li>providing ongoing funding to provinces and territories for the delivery of programs aimed at the day-to-day administration of justice; and </li> <li>providing legal services to the federal government and its departments and agencies, as legislated by the <em>Department of Justice Act</em>. </li> </ul> <h2>Service Standards</h2> <p>The Department is committed to delivering high quality legal advisory, litigation, and legislative and regulatory drafting services as demonstrated by timeliness, responsiveness and usefulness in accordance with established <a href="service.html">service standards</a>.</p> </div> <div class="clearfix"></div> <dl id="wb-dtmd" class="no-print mb-5 mt-3"> <dt>Date modified: </dt> <dd> <time property="dateModified"> 2021-08-05 </time> </dd> </dl> <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.2.4/jquery.js"></script> <script src="/themes-dist/wet-boew/js/wet-boew.min.js"></script> <script src="/themes-dist/GCWeb/js/theme.min.js"></script> </main> <footer id="wb-info"> <div class="gc-contextual"> <div class="container"> <nav class="wb-navcurr pb-4 pt-4"> <h3 class="mt-4">Department of Justice Canada</h3> <ul class="list-unstyled colcount-sm-2 colcount-md-3"> <li><a href="/eng/fl-df/index.html">Family Law</a></li> <li><a href="/eng/cj-jp/index.html">Criminal Justice</a></li> <li><a href="/eng/fund-fina/index.html">Funding</a></li> <li><a href="/eng/csj-sjc/index.html">Canada's System of Justice</a></li> <li><a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/" rel="external">Laws</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="landscape"> <div class="container"> <nav class="wb-navcurr pb-3 pt-4"> <h3 class="mt-3">Government of Canada</h3> <ul class="list-unstyled colcount-sm-2 colcount-md-3"> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/contact.html" rel="external">All contacts</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/government/dept.html" rel="external">Departments and agencies</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/government/system.html" rel="external">About government</a></li> </ul> <h4><span class="wb-inv">Themes and topics</span></h4> <ul class="list-unstyled colcount-sm-2 colcount-md-3"> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/jobs.html" rel="external">Jobs</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship.html" rel="external">Immigration and citizenship</a></li> <li><a href="https://travel.gc.ca/" rel="external">Travel and tourism</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/business.html" rel="external">Business</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits.html" rel="external">Benefits</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health.html" rel="external">Health</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/taxes.html" rel="external">Taxes</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment.html" rel="external">Environment and natural resources</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/defence.html" rel="external">National security and defence</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/culture.html" rel="external">Culture, history and sport</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/policing.html" rel="external">Policing, justice and emergencies</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/transport.html" rel="external">Transport and infrastructure</a></li> <li><a href="https://international.gc.ca/world-monde/index.aspx?lang=eng" rel="external">Canada and the world</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/finance.html" rel="external">Money and finance</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/science.html" rel="external">Science and innovation</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/indigenous-peoples.html" rel="external">Indigenous peoples</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/veterans.html" rel="external">Veterans and military</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/youth.html" rel="external">Youth</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="brand"> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <nav class="col-md-9 col-lg-10 ftr-urlt-lnk pb-0"> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/social.html" rel="external">Social media</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/mobile.html" rel="external">Mobile applications</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/government/about.html" rel="external">About Canada.ca</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/transparency/terms.html" rel="external">Terms and conditions</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/transparency/privacy.html" rel="external">Privacy</a></li> </ul> </nav> <div class="col-xs-6 visible-sm visible-xs tofpg"> <a href="#main-content">Top of Page <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-up"></span></a> </div> <div class="col-xs-6 col-md-3 col-lg-2 text-right"> <img src="https://wet-boew.github.io/themes-dist/GCWeb/GCWeb/assets/wmms-blk.svg" alt="Symbol of the Government of Canada"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </footer>  <script>_satellite.pageBottom();</script>  <script> document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(){ var hash = window.location.hash; if(hash == "#thank-you-message") { $( "#thank-you-message1" ).addClass( "hide" ); $( "#thank-you-message2" ).removeClass( "hide" ); } }); </script> </body> </html>