Supreme Court of Canada Client Satisfaction Survey

The Supreme Court of Canada has published an executive summary of a client satisfaction survey of recent Registry Branch customers. The Registry Branch is the administrative arm of the Court.

The survey was done in the spring of 2007 by the firm Phase 5.

299 counsel, agents and self-represented litigants who had appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada in 2006 were invited to participate in an online survey. The response rate was 60%.

Highlights:

• Information related to appeals was the most commonly accessed service area by respondents (93%), followed by information related to applications for leave to appeal (85%), information about Court decisions (61%), information about motions (55%) and access to documents from the Court Records Office (30%);
• The most commonly cited use for in-person counter services was to sign-in for hearings (88%). This was followed by filing documents (26%), consulting documents (15%) and requesting videos of hearings(15%);
• 3 out of 4 respondents stated they were 'very satisfied' with the service they received from the Registry Branch;
• There was strong agreement among respondents that they had enough information about the process and filing deadlines and to prepare their application. However, they were less likely to agree that the rules of the SCC related to leave for appeal are complete and clear - 1in 5 respondents did not agree;
• The Court website was well received with over 9 in 10 respondents indicating they were satisfied or very satisfied. However, the strength of the agreement was lower than other SCC service areas: more detailed and up-to-date case information (e.g. factums) was the most commonly cited suggestion for improving the SCC Web site