The International Legal Programs Section

ILPS – the Department of Justice Canada’s Window on the World

The International Legal Programs Section (ILPS) of the Department of Justice Canada has two key responsibilities:

• It provides Canadian technical legal assistance and expertise and engages in justice sector reconstruction and institutional capacity-building initiatives in various countries and regions as they build, reform and strengthen their legal systems; the ILPS also responds to justice-sector crises as part of a whole-of-government intervention.
• It supports key international activities for the Department and the Minister of Justice, such as visits to Canada by foreign justice ministers and officials, visits abroad by the Minister and senior departmental officials, and Canadian participation in international events involving justice ministries.

These responsibilities respond to the growing international commitments of the Department.  Those commitments are expanding for two reasons.

First, the Government of Canada is pursuing a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to promote Canada’s democratic values in targeted regions around the world.  The Department of Justice is helping to build the government and justice system infrastructure necessary for the rule of law to take hold to support social and economic development. This is a key contribution to the Government’s 3D (Development, Defence and Diplomacy) foreign policy orientation.

Second, governments and justice system stakeholders in Canada and other countries are increasingly looking to learn from international examples.  Countries with effective justice systems and ministries, such as Canada, are being approached for advice, information and guidance by others that want to improve their own systems of justice.  The Government of Canada also pursues its own contacts with foreign justice system counterparts and international organizations to address legal and justice system issues of common interest.

The ILPS translates Canadian values, commitment to the rule of law, and legal system technical assistance and expertise into advice and action in areas such as:

• legislative drafting for justice ministries;
• criminal justice reform;
• the legal situation of women;
• the organization of the criminal prosecution function;
• anti-corruption measures;
• legal resource centre and law library development;
• juvenile justice;
• civil code reform; and
• justice ministry structure and operations.

The ILPS draws on the Department’s 2,100 jurists and many partnerships to achieve Department of Justice Canada and Government of Canada goals.  It capitalizes on the fact that the Department of Justice Canada, as Canada’s largest bilingual and bijural legal organization, has extensive expertise in all facets of the civil law and common law traditions.

As part of the coordinated whole-of-government approach, the ILPS collaborates with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada to develop solutions adapted to the circumstances of each country – to build a more secure and peaceful world by promoting the rule of law, human rights, democratic development, and good governance around the globe.  The ILPS also collaborates with international counterparts in the United States, the European Union and elsewhere, and with non-governmental organizations with an interest in international technical legal assistance