Justice Teresa Anne Doherty served as a Judge of the Special Court for Sierra Leone from 2005 to 2013. She was called to the Bar in 1978. From 1976-1987 she practiced law in Northern Ireland and Papua New Guinea.
In 1987 she was appointed a Principal Magistrate in Papua New Guinea and from 1988-1997 she served as a Judge of the Supreme and National Courts and was the first woman to be appointed a judge in the South Pacific Island Region.
In 1998 she returned to private law practice in Northern Ireland, and, at request of the Commonwealth Secretariat, carried out consultancies on case flow management in several jurisdictions. From 2003-2005, Justice Doherty has served as a Judge of the High Court and the Court of Appeal of Sierra Leone. She has served as Parole Commissioner for Northern Ireland from 2002 until superannuated in 2017. She is also a part-time legal chairman of the Appeal Services of Northern Ireland and a member of the Commonwealth Reference Group on the Promotion of the Rights of Women and the Girl Child.
In 1997 Justice Doherty was awarded the CBE for outstanding contributions to the judiciary and community, in 2010 she received an honorary Doctorate of Law (LL.D) from the University of Ulster. She was made an Honorary Bencher of Inn of Court of Northern Ireland 2015. She was given awards for the Advancement of Human Rights and for Global Vision by the International Association of Women Judges, Buenos Aires 2018 and is recognised on the Gender Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice Gender Justice Legacy Wall (New York and The Hague) 2018. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Women’s Forum, Northern Ireland. She was appointed a Judge of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone in 2013 and continues to contribute to international judicial education and judicial institution building. She has written chapters in several legal publications on international criminal law and international penal systems.