Shan Tennent

Shan Eve Tennent is an Australian judge. She has been a Judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania, the highest ranking court in the state of Tasmania, since March 2005, and is the first woman to be appointed to the position.

Tennent studied law at the University of Queensland, subsequently moving to Tasmania in 1977. She practiced law in Hobart, specialising in family law cases, and worked as a partner at Hobart firm Page Seager for fifteen years. [Lower, Gavin. "Tassie gets first female Supreme Court judge". "The Mercury", February 1, 2005.] 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. [Whinnett, Ellen. "Woman set to be new judge". "The Mercury", January 29, 2005.] [Paine, Michelle. "New jail to be built at $53m cost". "The Mercury", April 11, 2001.]

Tennent was appointed to the Supreme Court of Tasmania on March 15, 2005 by Governor William Cox, making her the first woman to sit on the court in its 180-year history. [Lower, Gavin. "Tassie gets first female Supreme Court judge". "The Mercury", February 1, 2005.] She has presided over a wide range of cases on the bench, among them the high-profile trial on sex charges of former Hobart teacher Sarah Jayne Vercoe. [Lower, Gavin. "Teacher jailed for sex crimes". "Daily Telegraph", September 9, 2005.]

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