Sheriff Sheehan steps down as SSSA president

Sheriff Wendy Sheehan

Sheriff Sheehan, who was the first female president of the association, stepped down at its AGM in Edinburgh on 15 March. She will be succeeded by Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown, of Forfar Sheriff Court.

Sheriff Martin-Brown said: “Wendy Sheehan has been a powerhouse in her many years of serving the interests of Scotland’s sheriffs and summary sheriffs on the Council of the SSSA.

“Her leadership, energy, hard work, and – above all – the care and compassion she brought to everything she did as President will be sorely missed.

“Her colleagues on Council were delighted to mark her departure at the AGM with a presentation.

“We hope we can call on her experience and expertise in the years to come and we all wish her every success as she continues her great work in Edinburgh Sheriff Court.”

Sheriff Sheehan became a part-time sheriff in 2005. In 2011, she was appointed to a full-time post at Glasgow Sheriff Court before transferring to Edinburgh in 2014, where she still sits as a senior family sheriff. In 2022, she was appointed as an appeal sheriff to the Sheriff Appeal Court. She is also a regular lecturer and contributor at the Judicial Institute.

In her years on the council of the SSSA, Sheriff Sheehan made a huge contribution to the work of the association, which exists to represent the interests of Scotland’s sheriffs and summary sheriffs in discussions with the Scottish and UK governments, the Judicial Office, COPFS, SCTS, and Scotland’s sheriffs principal.

The overwhelming majority of Scotland’s shrieval bench are members.

Much of the council’s work consists of providing detailed responses to Scottish government consultations on its proposed legislative programmes. Council members also represent Scotland’s sheriffs and summary sheriffs at international judicial conferences to provide contributions from a Scots law perspective.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, the association’s members supported a temporary amendment to its constitution to allow Sheriff Sheehan to serve a second term as its president. This allowed the association some stability and continuity while all of Scotland’s court users navigated their way through the many reforms introduced to catch up with the court backlog and continue to modernise.