Department of Justice (Canada)

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The Department of Justice (French: Département de la justice) is an executive department of the Cabinet of Canada, and the Canadian federal government's department responsible for ensuring the administration of justice at the federal level. The Department of Justice is headed by the Attorney General of Canada, the chief legal advisor to the federal government.

The actual administration of justice is handled by the Department of Justice's Crown Prosecution Service of Canada (CPSC), which is headed by the Crown Attorney of Canada, the third-most high-ranking official of the Department of Justice, after the Attorney General of Canada and his deputy the Solicitor General of Canada, who are responsible mainly for government legal counsel and overseeing Department of Justice-administered law enforcement agencies, respectfully.

Subordinate agencies[edit | edit source]

  • Crown Prosecution Service of Canada: the federal production authority, led by the Crown Prosecutor of Canada; responsible for bringing federal charges against alleged federal offenders. Agency is smaller than provincial Crown prosecution services, as the majority of cases are handled by provincial courts.
  • Canada Sheriff Service: Responsible for the security of all federal judicial institutions, transportation of federal prisoners between facilities, and handling special federal operations like conducting national manhunts and running the federal witness protection program. Federal sheriff's deputies have the same federal officer powers as officers of the RCMP.
  • Crown Legislative Record of Canada: The law library and permanent record of all deliberation and procedures undertaken by the federal courts or the federal government; considered public domain as per the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.