Shan Tennent Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable Justice
Shan Eve Tennent
Office:Judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania
Term Start:15 March 2005
Term End:3 November 2017
Occupation:Judge, lawyer
Education:University of Queensland
Birth Place:Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Nationality:Australian

Shan Eve Tennent (born 1952) is a former Australian judge. She was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania between March 2005 and October 2017, and was the first woman to be appointed to the Court.[1]

Tennent studied law at the University of Queensland, subsequently moving to Tasmania in 1977. She practised law in Hobart, specialising in family law cases, and worked as a partner at Hobart firm Page Seager for fifteen years.[2] In 1998 she was appointed as both a magistrate and a coroner, leading to her high-profile 2001 inquest into prisoner deaths in custody at Risdon Prison, the state's largest prison. The subsequent report resulted in a number of sackings, and ultimately led to the decision to completely rebuild the prison.[3] [4]

Tennent was appointed to the Supreme Court of Tasmania on 15 March 2005 by Governor William Cox, making her the first woman to sit on the court in its 180-year history.[2] Tennent retired with effect on 3 November 2017.[5] [6] In March 2019 Tennent was inducted into the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women for "service to justice and human rights".[7]

Notes and References

  1. News: Fromberg. Annah. Tasmania's trailblazing Supreme Court judge Shan Tennent given ceremonial send-off. 2 October 2017. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2 October 2017.
  2. Lower, Gavin. "Tassie gets first female Supreme Court judge". The Mercury, 1 February 2005.
  3. Whinnett, Ellen. "Woman set to be new judge". The Mercury, 29 January 2005.
  4. Paine, Michelle. "New jail to be built at $53m cost". The Mercury, 11 April 2001.
  5. Web site: The Puisne Judges of Tasmania. Supreme Court of Tasmania. 19 December 2017.
  6. News: Fromberg. A. Tasmania's trailblazing Supreme Court judge Shan Tennent given ceremonial send-off. 19 December 2017. ABC News. 2 October 2017.
  7. Web site: Women in Tasmania. www.dpac.tas.gov.au. 2019-03-16.