Minister of Justice / Attorney General

The Minister of Justice is also the Attorney General of Canada. The two titles reflect the two very different aspects of the job:

As Minister of Justice he is responsible for more than 45 statutes and areas of federal law, such as human rights, family and youth law, administrative law, Aboriginal justice, general public law and private international law. The Minister introduces policies and programs that not only change the law but are intended to influence the way the law is applied, how the legal system functions and how individuals interact with the system, such as victims policy or support services in family law. The Department enacts reform and provides advice on all reforms related to criminal law.

As Attorney General he advises federal departments and agencies on behalf of the Crown, and represents the Crown whenever legal actions are taken against a federal body. The Attorney General also oversees the prosecution of violations of federal law in all the provinces, as well as the prosecution of all federal offences, including Criminal Code violations, in the territories.

The Department of Justice is mandated to provide legal advice only to the federal government, for this reason we cannot provide any legal advice to members of the public.