A suture grasping and passing device having a handle with an elongate tubular needle defining a lumen therein and extending from the distal end of the handle and having a pointed forward distal tip for puncturing soft tissue. A lateral radially open suture capture notch is provided in the tubular needle adjacent the pointed distal tip and defines a mouth open to the needle lumen. The notch mouth is contoured to receive a suture therein transversely across the mouth and an elongate gate member is slidably received for axial movement within the lumen whereby the gate member may be advanced in a forward direction to entirely close off an outer radial apex portion of the suture capture mouth to capture a suture under the gate member within the mouth of the notch.
