Attorney General Tables PPSC Annual Report

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 21, 2011) - The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the tabling in Parliament of the Annual Report 2010-2011 of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.

The report covers the period of April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011 and was delivered to the Attorney General by Mr. Brian Saunders, Director of Public Prosecutions.

"I am proud of the hard work put forth by PPSC staff across the country. Their dedication allows the PPSC to fulfill its mandate with success," said Minister Nicholson.

PPSC prosecutors handled over 78,000 files in 2010-2011. This figure includes 48,504 files opened during the year, with drug prosecutions representing a significant proportion of the PPSC's caseload.

The PPSC is responsible for prosecuting offences under more than 50 federal statutes and for providing prosecution-related legal advice to law enforcement agencies. As of March 31^st, 2011, there were 958 employees working for the organization across Canada. The PPSC also retains the services of some 224 private sector law firms, or 535 individually appointed lawyers, as standing agents.

The PPSC was created in December 2006, with the coming into force of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act, Part 3 of the Federal Accountability Act.