The Honourable Negar Azmudeh

Justice Negar Azmudeh immigrated to Canada from Iran when she was 18. She obtained a B.A. in French, History, and Political Science from Simon Fraser University and an LL.B. from the University of Ottawa. She was called to the British Columbia Bar in December 1999.

Justice Azmudeh is fluent in both of Canada’s official languages and has adjudicated cases in English and French. She articled at a small personal injury law firm in Vancouver and began her legal career in general practice before focusing exclusively on immigration and refugee law. Prior to being appointed as a member (adjudicator) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada in 2008, she was a sole practitioner. For the past 24 years, she has dedicated her professional career to Canada’s refugee determination system. Her roles in this system have included representing individuals before Canada’s tribunals and courts, working as an adjudicator within those tribunals, hiring and training new decision-makers on refugee law and procedure, developing professional development and mentorship programs for decision-makers, managing teams of decision-makers, and acting as a senior executive leading the administration of the refugee determination system. Most recently, she founded the Quality Centre at the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) and led initiatives to increase the efficiency, quality and consistency of decision-making.

Justice Azmudeh and her partner Thomas Kuehn are proud parents of their 13-year-old son Navid and their 9-year-old daughter Nousha and live in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

Appointed Justice of the Federal Court, and ex officio member of the Federal Court of Appeal on August 23, 2023.