Sandra is an international lawyer with over twenty years of experience and almost fifteen years defending and protecting victims of economics crimes, fighting impunity, and advocating for changes of legal frameworks Prior to this position, Sandra headed the Globalisation and Human Rights Program within Sherpa for almost 8 years. She was a leading voice on the need to change the legal framework so that legal structures would reflect economic reality and contribute to achieving access to justice for victims of corporate violations of human rights.
During this period, Sherpa was at the forefront of some of the most important milestones in corporate liability for human rights, bringing new strategic litigation cases and testing innovative legal ground to fight against corporate impunity.
Sandra played a pivotal role in the development of the ground-breaking duty of vigilance legislation that was adopted in France in March 2017 after 5 years of intensive advocacy work. She also regularly engages constructively with and provides expert advice and submissions to various stakeholders, including the French government, and therefore took an active participation in the development of the French National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.
Prior to heading the GHR Program at Sherpa, Sandra had spent 8 years in England. She was working as a legal consultant for companies before volunteering for the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, conducting legal and general research for two years. Prior to that experience, she worked at a law firm in Paris where she provided counsel and litigation services, notably in business law. She also provided pro bono representation and legal advice to asylum seekers and refugees. Before that, she worked within international organizations such as the European Parliament and the Council of Europe, as well as for the European Union in Russia.
Sandra is the author of many scholarly legal articles, news articles, and op-ed’s and has participated in TV and radio news programmes and documentaries, and is an assistant Lecturer at Science Po Paris. She is also a member of the board of the non-profit organization RSE-et-PED, which aims to equip actors from the Global South with better access to information, CSR expertise and tools.
Sandra Cossart holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, as well as degrees from Sciences Po in Paris, the College of Europe in Bruges (LLM), Inalco (Russia) and the London School of Economics.
Sandra Cossart is Sherpa’s director since November 2017.