Shan Eve Tennent is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n judge. She was a Judge of the

Supreme Court of Tasmania The Supreme Court of Tasmania is the highest State court in the Australian State of Tasmania. In the Australian court hierarchy, the Supreme Court of Tasmania is in the middle level, with both an appellate jurisdiction over lower courts, and de ...

between March 2005 and October 2017, and was the first woman to be appointed to the Court. Tennent studied law at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

, subsequently moving to

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

in 1977. She practised law in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, 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 Mercury most commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * M ...

'', 1 February 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 Risdon Prison Complex is an Australian medium to maximum security prison for males located in Risdon Vale near Hobart, Tasmania. The facility is operated by the Tasmanian Prison Service, an agency of the Department of Justice of the Governme ...

, 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. Tennent was appointed to the

on 15 March 2005 by Governor William Cox, making her the first woman to sit on the court in its 180-year history. Tennent retired with effect on 3 November 2017. In March 2019 Tennent was inducted into the

Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women The State Government of Tasmania in Australia established the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women in 2005 to recognise Tasmanian women who have been distinguished in their contributions to the State. In 2021 Martine Delaney Martine Delaney (born 15 Oct ...

for "service to justice and human rights".

References

Living people University of Queensland alumni Judges of the Supreme Court of Tasmania Australian women judges 1952 births 21st-century Australian judges 21st-century women judges {{Australia-law-bio-stub