Canada Courts Administration Service

CAS was established in 2003 by the Courts Administration Service Act, S.C. 2002, c. 8. CAS' role is to provide effective and efficient registry, judicial and internal services to the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada and the Tax Court of Canada ("the Courts"). The Chief Administrator of CAS serves as Deputy Head. CAS was created to ensure the effective and efficient provision of administrative support to the four superior courts of record; to enhance judicial independence by placing administrative services at arm's length from the Government of Canada and affirming the roles of the chief justices and judges in the management of the Courts; and to enhance accountability for the use of public money in support of court administration. This in turn ensures timely and fair access to the judicial system, which is essential to constitutional governance. CAS' budget is allocated through authorities approved by Parliament. CAS has one voted authority for program expenditures and statutory authorities for contributions to employee benefit plans, spending of proceeds from the disposal of surplus Crown assets, and refunds of amounts credited to revenues in previous years. Authorities provided to CAS do not parallel financial reporting according to generally accepted accounting principles since authorities are primarily based on cash flow requirements. Consequently, items recognized in the Statement of Financial Position and in the Statement of Operations and Departmental Net Financial Position are not necessarily the same as those provided through authorities from Parliament. Note 3 of the Financial Statements provide a reconciliation between the bases of reporting. The Financial Statements of CAS are not audited.