The Honourable Simon Noël

The Honourable Simon Noël was born in the City of Québec. He studied law at the University of Ottawa and was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1975. He was a professor in administrative law at the University of Ottawa from 1977 to 1979. In September 2012, the university’s Civil Law Faculty bestowed on Mr. Noël the highest distinction as an alumnus of the Faculty.

He was a partner at the firm Noël & Associates from 1977 to 2002. As a lawyer, he acted in many fields, including civil litigation, corporate law and administrative law. Notably, Mr. Noël was counsel for the Royal Commission of Inquiry into certain activities of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (1979–1981) and co-chief prosecutor for the Commission of Inquiry into the Deployment of Canadian Forces to Somalia (1995–1997). He also represented the interests of the Security Intelligence Review Committee for over 15 years.

Some legal achievements included being appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1992; being appointed Commissioner to the Commission des services juridiques du Québec in 1993; and being appointed Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2000. He also co-authored the Supreme Court News / La Cour suprême en bref from 1989 to 1995.

For a number of years, he has also been a speaker on numerous occasions dealing with national security and the rule of law. He has also authored and co-authored a variety of articles over the years. He coordinated the work of the four authors and others for the book, The Federal Court of Appeal and the Federal Court: 50 Years of History.

In the early years of his career (1979–1983), Mr. Noël was in charge of two public affairs programs broadcast on the TVA network. He also actively volunteered for community groups and charitable organizations.

Judicial appointments include Judge of the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, and ex officio member of the Court of Appeal (August 2002); Judge of the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada (December 2002); following the coming into force of the Courts Administration Service Act in July 2003, he was appointed Judge of the Federal Court (November 2003); Interim Chief Justice (2011); and at the request of the Chief Justice, he acted as Associate Chief Justice (2013 to 2017). He was also Coordinator of the Designated Proceedings Section (2006 to 2017). The Designated Proceedings Section of the Federal Court is where all files that have a national security component are managed and heard. He became a supernumerary judge in September 2017, and retired August 31, 2022.