Dr Scott Sheeran has extensive experience as a barrister and lawyer, and a diplomat, academic, management consultant, military officer, and human rights defender, working on issues concerning public, administrative, international and human rights law.
Dr Sheeran cares about effective governance, the rule of law, and human rights, in New Zealand and globally. He has held significant roles in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ministry of Defence, New Zealand Defence Force, and with Chen & Palmer Public Law Specialists. His work has included providing advice and counsel to governments and Parliament, including the Prime Minister, Ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs, chief executives, and the Leader of the Opposition and has been involved in Cabinet papers and decisions, Parliamentary Questions, Official Information Act (OIA) requests, Select Committee, and Government media releases.
Dr Sheeran has been legal counsel before international courts and tribunals, including the International Court of Justice, disputes panels of the World Trade Organisation, and under the Permanent Court of Arbitration. His experience includes supervising and managing legal proceedings in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and France, and acting as NZDF legal counsel in the Operation Burnham Inquiry in New Zealand. He has also held leadership roles within the United Nations, for example, as the Vice Chair of the UN Legal (Sixth) Committee of the General Assembly.
Dr Sheeran is an international law and human rights expert and published author. His human rights work has been with victims of abuse in Iran and Sri Lanka, on advisory panels of international human rights NGOs, and as legal adviser to a UN Special Rapporteur. He has lived and worked alongside many faiths and cultures, residing in the Middle East, Europe, and North America, and carried out work in the South Pacific, Asia, and Africa. This has taken him from the Peace Palace in The Hague and UN Security Council chamber in New York, to an active war zone in Libya and mediating a major African inter-state water dispute.