David Smith (justice)

David Duncan Smith is a Canadian jurist.

Smith is Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench for the Canadian province of New Brunswick. He was appointed Chief Justice in April 1998 after serving as a judge of the Family Division since May 1993.

A graduate of Acadia University with a Bachelor of Commerce and the University of New Brunswick with an LL.B., Chief Justice Smith was called to the New Brunswick Bar in 1971 and appointed Queen's Counsel in 1985. He is a former member of the New Brunswick Parole Board and has held leadership positions in the New Brunswick branch of the Canadian Bar Association, the Moncton YMCA, the Moncton Airport Board, the Rotary Club and United Way. He is a former director of Canadair Limited and Junior Achievement.

On 5 February 2016, the Liberal government of Brian Gallant proposed in Bill 21 to curb the Chief Justice's administrative management powers, wherein the Minister of Justice would reserve for the executive arm the geographic placement of Queen's Bench judges. The amendment to the Judicature Act effects that the chief justice cannot designate "a new place of residence" for a judge "without first obtaining the consent" of the justice minister. Smith stated that he was "surprised to learn that the minister of justice had introduced a bill subjecting decisions of the chief justice of the Court of Queen's Bench to his consent without any notice to or consultation with that chief justice." Bill 21 lapsed when Gallant ended the first session of the 58th New Brunswick Legislature. NDP leader Dominic Cardy implied during a June interview that the Liberals were "trying to protect a political friend, already sitting as a judge, from being moved by Smith."

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