The Canadian Judicial Council is recommending a Quebec Superior Court justice accused of misconduct not be removed from office.
Michel Girouard was named a judge in September 2010 after practising law for a quarter-century in the Abitibi region in northwestern Quebec.
But allegations he bought drugs from an unnamed police informant when he was still a lawyer led then-chief justice Francois Rolland to ask the council to investigate in 2012.
The council says in its conclusion there is no evidence Girouard tried to purchase an illicit substance roughly two weeks before his appointment.
A panel recommended last year that Girouard be removed -- not because the allegations were founded -- but because of his conduct during the hearings.
But the council says in a statement the panel's decision was reviewed and rejected because the panel's ruling was not relayed to Girouard to give him a chance to respond.
