Executive Summary

This Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) was prepared by the Department of Justice as required by the 1995 amendments to the Auditor General Act.

The Department of Justice intends to meet the challenge facing all federal departments to understand, develop and implement ways to integrate the concept of sustainable development into its work and decision-making.

Simply defined, "sustainable development" means using our natural and human resources to achieve social and economic goals without harming the environment upon which we and future generations depend. It is a multi-faceted, overarching concept, which integrates concerns for environmental quality, social justice, and economic prosperity.

Beyond the practical "greening" of internal operations through reduced use and waste reduction, this strategy deals with the full range of the Department's policies and programs. These policies and programs are particularly relevant to three of the key, cross-cutting elements of sustainable development identified in A Guide to Green Government: quality of life, equity, and integrated decision-making.

The Department has a potentially significant impact on sustainable development through the legal advice it provides to its clients, both concerning existing laws and policies and concerning law and policy reform. The demand for this work will increase as a result of the promulgation of Sustainable Development Strategies by most of the Department's client departments and agencies. Within the context of client service agreements and within available resources, the Department of Justice will serve those demands.

An important objective for government is to enhance the degree to which decision making systematically and explicitly integrates economic, environmental and social considerations. As a service organization, driven primarily by the needs and demands of its clients, the Department of Justice will ensure that it responds effectively and proactively to the anticipated increase in demand from its clients for legal advice related to sustainable development. To support this need, Justice Canada will emphasize five objectives. The sixth objective addresses the stewardship actions concerning the Department's physical operations.

SDS Objectives:

1. Enhance the Department's capacity to promote sustainable development by improving the awareness and knowledge of the relevant issues by Departmental staff.



2. Improve the Department's understanding of the linkages between sustainable development and its legal, policy and programmatic services.



3. Identify and advise on the legal status and significance of the federal government's domestic and international obligations related to sustainable development.



4. Support law reform to enable the federal government to promote sustainable development more effectively.



5. Through a sustainable development network, ensure that the legal advice the department provides to the federal government on sustainable development issues is consistent and of high quality.



6. Reduce the Department's direct environmental impact through stewardship and environmental management activities.

The implementation of these objectives will require a variety of actions by all parts of the Department, as described in this Sustainable Development Strategy.

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