Appendix A: Additional Performance Measures and Results

Context:
The number of sitting hours for criminal courts is generally accepted as a measure of court activity. This number is projected and then verified at year end. The number of sitting hours relates to supporting the operation of three levels of court and processing cases in a timely and efficient manner. The measure informs the objective for this business area and ministry goal 1.

Number of hours for criminal sittings may have declined due to the temporarily reduced number of available Provincial Court judges. The sitting resource capacity declined for several reasons including: retirements, illness and part-time status. As well, a reduction in Supreme Court criminal sittings contributed to reduced sitting hours for all criminal courts.

The data source for this measure is JUSTIN, a highly reliable, integrated case-tracking system used throughout the province. The data are a by-product of operational case processing performed daily at every courthouse. Actual results are compiled by electronic extraction from an operational database.

Context:
Sitting hours are generally accepted as a measure of court activity. This number is projected and then verified at year end. Reasonably consistent numbers of hours for civil and family sittings indicate a continuation of similar levels of accessibility. The measure informs both the objective for this business area and ministry goal 1.

The 2003/04 projection predicted a small decline in the number of hours for civil and family sittings at all levels of court.

For civil cases, data are manually extracted at each court location. Times are reported on court lists and compiled onto statistical summaries at each location. Data from individual locations are entered into a provincial database.

Manual data are susceptible to error, and periodic reviews must be conducted to verify data consistency. Commencing in 2004/05, an integrated case-tracking system for civil cases will eliminate manual data extraction.

Context:
The number of criminal cases concluded is a high-level measure of court activity and output. This measure informs ministry goals 1 and 2 and the business area objective. Actual volume of criminal cases concluded can vary year to year as a result of the number and type of cases and the amount of judicial time assigned among criminal, family or other civil matters.

Several factors contributed to fewer criminal cases entering court in 2003/04. Provincial Court youth cases are significantly down in number. Reforms implemented within the new federal Youth Criminal Justice Act may be a factor. Adult criminal cases also continued to decrease in both Supreme and Provincial Courts. Supreme Court adult criminal volumes decreased by 50 per cent because applications for extensions of time to dispute Violation Tickets are no longer heard in Supreme Court. These applications are now in the form of affidavit information that is considered by Provincial Court Judicial Justices of the Peace.

The number of criminal cases concluded has been used in conjunction with two other measures — new criminal cases and age of pending cases — to assess whether backlog and case delay is increasing or decreasing.

The data source for this measure is JUSTIN, a highly reliable, integrated case-tracking system used throughout the province. The data are a by-product of operational case processing performed daily at every courthouse. Actual results are compiled by electronic extraction from an operational database.

Context:
This measure quantifies the cost of delivering civil legal services to government and helps define the cost-effectiveness of the delivery model. It is a tracking mechanism and is used to assess overall service delivery performance and assist in calculating cost-recovery estimates. Along with other analyses, it can also be used in establishing future targets.

The data are compiled through financial reports and the Legal Files System reports on hours. The latter is a time-tracking system. Data from both sources are reviewed monthly for accuracy and reliability, and the average hourly cost is calculated annually.

Context:
This process was evaluated and found to be successful in diverting cases from the courts. The measure indicates the number of sites in the province where this program is offered.

This program is provided with federal funding assistance, but in 2003, it was not clear whether that funding would continue. By reducing the number of locations, the ministry was able to sustain a highly effective process and continue diverting cases from court. The ministry continues to monitor the program to ensure it is delivered effectively and efficiently.

The number of sites with mandatory referral to family justice counsellors is articulated in the Provincial Court (Family) Rules.

Context:
This efficiency measure shows how much the ministry spends to collect each dollar of family maintenance payments. The measure has been used for 12 fiscal years, and results have ranged from a high of $.18 in 92/93 to the current low of $.10. The measure is used to determine effectiveness and efficiency. It also serves as a base from which to calculate annual funding for the program.

The measure is obtained by comparing the total maintenance paid through the program against the total contracted expenses of administering the program. Data are provided through application-generated data and funding allocations.

Context:
Bill 66 introduced an amendment to the Election Act that would remove the prohibition on prisoners serving sentences longer than two years from voting in provincial elections.

Bill 99 introduced an amendment to the Election Act that would remove the requirement to conduct a general enumeration in 2004, a full year before the general election in May 2005. The last general enumeration, conducted in 1999, cost $4 million and added only 28,690 names to the voters list.

Context:
The Court Jurisdiction and Proceedings Transfer Act revises and clarifies the rules judges use to decide if they have jurisdiction in matters before them. It also gives superior courts the means for transferring litigation to a more appropriate forum inside or outside of Canada.

The Enforcement of Canadian Judgments and Decrees Act makes it easier to enforce decisions of Canadian courts outside British Columbia by allowing those orders to be registered in the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

Objective: Build public support for negotiations and agreements by strengthening linkages among communities, providing information and raising awareness.

Context:
As part of a government program to reinvigorate, and build public support for, the treaty process, British Columbia began a new course of strategic consultations and meetings. This included focusing resources on meetings in communities where agreements seemed possible. The 2003/04 actual indicates a greater demand for consultation which was driven by the unprecedented progress made at treaty tables during that year.

Data source is meeting records and can be cross-referenced with records from other agencies such as municipalities and stakeholder organizations.

Objective: Implement obligations arising from treaty settlements and other negotiated agreements.

Context:
This measure informs the implementation function in the Treaty Negotiations Office. Once agreements are negotiated, the office is responsible for ensuring that 1) obligations arising from treaty settlements and other agreements are met within established timelines and 2) line agencies are supported in meeting their obligations.

The measure demonstrates achievement in the implementation of treaties, and particularly for the Nisga'a Final Agreement Adjustment Project.

Objective: Support government's major economic priorities.
To help achieve this objective, the Treaty Negotiations Office implements proactive strategies to address First Nations disputes.

Context:
In 2003 there was an unusually high number of Protective Writs filed by First Nations, based on the assumption that certain provincial statutory limitation periods would expire within six years of the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Delgamuukw v. British Columbia. Therefore many First Nations believed that they needed to file a writ by December 10, 2003, in order to protect themselves from a defence by the Crown that limitation periods had expired. The province has been served 12 of these Protective Writs and is aware of another 66 unserved writs. If Protective Writs are excluded from the calculations, the incidence of rights or title litigation would be 10, or about 85 per cent of the base data.

The projection of 110 per cent of base data is still valid and can reasonably be expected to normalize in subsequent years. A drop in the actual result could indicate success in implementing proactive strategies to address First Nations disputes.

Objective: Support government's major economic priorities.
To help achieve this objective, the Treaty Negotiations Office implements proactive strategies to address First Nations disputes.

Context:
The variance (45 per cent less than the estimate for 2003/04) represents a substantial decrease in the incidence of direct action/blockades. The cause of this variance is not known at present, but the incidence has been in decline for the past two years. The actual number of blockades in 2001/02 was 38 and subsequent years yielded annual declines of 40 per cent or more. The decrease could be due to the Treaty Negotiations Office's strategy of implementing proactive strategies to address First Nations disputes, but this cannot be confirmed.

The 2003/04 target (projection) was considered realistic in light of the pace of change following the 2002 Referendum on Treaty Principles. The ministry will use these actual results to evaluate future targets (projections) for this measure.