Supreme Court won't hear dispute over Quebec judge accused of buying cocaine

The Supreme Court of Canada will not delve into questions about the process for disciplining federally appointed judges.

The top court has declined to hear the Canadian Judicial Council's argument that its recommendations should be immune to scrutiny from the Federal Court.

The dispute arises out of a long-running fight to have a Quebec Superior Court judge, Michel Girouard, removed from the bench over his behaviour during a disciplinary inquiry into whether he illegally bought cocaine or not.

Girouard asked the Federal Court to set aside a recommendation he be tossed off the bench.

The judicial council argued the court lacked authority to review the matter, but Federal Court Judge Simon Noel ruled that no one not even the country's top judge who chairs the council was above the law.

The Federal Court of Appeal upheld the ruling in May, saying the judicial council's actions and decisions are administrative in nature.

Girouard has been suspended with pay since 2013, at a yearly salary of $329,000.

In 2012, aformer drug dealer turned police informant had told Quebec's top judge Girouard had bought cocaine from him for years while he was a criminal lawyer, including up until about a week before becoming a judge in 2010.