David Duncan Smith is aCanadianjurist.

Smith isChief Justice of theCourt of King's Bench for theCanadian province ofNew Brunswick. He was appointed Chief Justice in April 1998 after serving as a judge of theFamily Division since May 1993.

A graduate ofAcadia University with aBachelor of Commerce and theUniversity of New Brunswick with anLL.B., Chief Justice Smith was called to the New Brunswick Bar in 1971 and appointedKing's Counsel in 1985. He is a former member of theNew Brunswick Parole Board and has held leadership positions in theNew Brunswick branch of theCanadian Bar Association, the MonctonYMCA, theMoncton Airport Board, theRotary Club andUnited Way. He is a former director ofCanadair Limited and Junior Achievement.

• Smith presided over the 2014 case ofJustin Bourque.

On 5 February 2016, the Liberal government ofBrian 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."^[1] Bill 21 lapsed when Gallant ended the first session of the58th New Brunswick Legislature.^[2] NDP leaderDominic 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."^[2]

Smith had made aFreedom of Information request earlier in the year; the request forced by law the government to issue on 27 June a description or summary of the documents in question so that both parties could refer to concrete items. The 54-page summary raised more questions, and caused consternation over the speed at which the bill had been drafted: Gallant's office had begun the discussion of the bill on 24 January, less than two weeks prior to its introduction in the legislature on 5 February. On the same day, Gallant transferred authority over the bill toStephen Horsman, who was then Minister of Justice. Dozens of emails were exchanged between officials "regarding urgency".^[3] TheLaw Society of New Brunswick and theCanadian Bar Association had taken positions favourable to Smith's cause by 4 July.^[4]

The changes to the Judicature Act were reintroduced as Bill 17 on 16 November,^[5] shortly after the new session began with aSpeech from the Throne on 2 November. Also on that date, Smith's Freedom of Information request to obtain documents related to the identity of the drafters of the bill failed.^[5] On 16 January 2017 in a speech to the MonctonRotary Club, Smith divulged that he had asked theCanadian Superior Courts Judges Association to challenge the Bill in theSupreme Court of Canada. The Gallant government, as of January 2017, refused to provide a specific example of a transfer that they found unacceptable or that they would have vetoed. Smith has only made transfers "as a result of a vacancy, and as a result of a request by a judge. There was never a judge moved that hadn't made a request to make that move."^[6] It was looking grim for Smith's gambit two months later; the head of the CSCJA noted that the judicial reference procedure is available in Canada only to executive branches of government.^[7] On 18 April, the Board of the CSCJA concurred with its head, and stated that Smith's request "is not an appropriate role for the association".^[8]

Bill 17 passed into law on 5 May 2017.^[9]

• Biography at Court of Queen's Bench