The Honourable William Hoyt

OC, QC, MA

Honorary Fellow
Formerly Chief Justice of New Brunswick.

The Honourable William L Hoyt was born in Saint John, New Brunswick (NB), Canada, on 13 September 1930. He was educated at Woodstock High School NB, Acadia University, Wolfville Nova Scotia (BA, MA), and at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, England (BA, MA) where he read Law from 1954 to 1956.

Called to the New Brunswick Bar in 1957, he practised as a barrister between 1957 and 1981. He was appointed Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1972.

Mr Hoyt was appointed a judge of the Court of the Queen's Bench of New Brunswick in 1981. From 1984 until 1998 he was a judge of the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick. He was Chief Justice of New Brunswick from 1993 to 1998 and, in that capacity, was a member of the Canadian Judicial Council.

A member of the New Brunswick Judicial Council from 1988 to 1998, Mr Hoyt was its Chairman from 1993. He was Administrator of the Government of New Brunswick from 1994 to 1998. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD) by St Thomas University, Fredericton NB in 1997, by the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton NB in 1998 and an honorary Doctorate of Civil Law by Acadia University in 2001. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2007.

Mr Hoyt is married and has three daughters. His home is in Fredericton NB and his recreations include cycling, reading and fly-fishing.

On 23 February 1998 Mr Hoyt was appointed as a Member of the Inquiry looking into the events of 30 January 1972 in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.