Sandhya Drew

Overview

Sandhya Drew graduated in English & Modern Languages from the University of Oxford. After teaching in the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Bologna for two years, she was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1993 (NI 2003) after study at what is now the City Law School.

Sandhya practised full-time for the next twenty years from Tooks Chambers, with a successful practice in national and international employment and public law. She acted for her clients at all levels up to the then House of Lords and the European Court of Human Rights, including in a case, CN v UK, which led to the enactment of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Sandhya has worked cross-border and in other jurisdictions including India. Latterly, she was engaged as a Consultant on Forced Labour by the International Labour Organisation. She joined City Law School in January 2019.

Sandhya holds a current Practising Certificate, accepts work compatible with her academic commitments and is also a CEDR Qualified Mediator with specialist skill in workplace and sports disputes.

Sandhya is a  Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She was from 2017- 2025 Visiting Professor of Employment Law on the University of Paris Nanterre’s Joint Masters Degree in French Law and Common Law. She is Honorary Adjunct Professor of Law at O.P. Jindal Global University and a Senior Fellow at its Centre for Legal Empowerment of the Poor. 

At City, Sandhya has, since 2020,  led Labour Law on the LLB, which is one of the biggest elective modules. On the Bar Vocational Studies course, she designed and leads a new Judicial Review elective.  She led and co-led Advocacy Submissions from 2019-2025.  She has taught across City's law courses, including Civil Litigation, Drafting, Civil Advocacy, Opinion Writing and Employment Law to Bar students, and Employment Law and International Human Rights Law to LLB students. She has supervised dissertations on LLMs across the academic and professional programmes, with specialisms in judicial review, employment law and human rights.

With Professor Emerita Gwyneth Pitt, she is co-author of Pitt's Employment Law (Sweet & Maxwell, 12th edition, 2022, 13th edition, 2024, 14th edition, forthcoming in 2026)

She is a  member of the London Universities Maritime Law and Policy Research Group, based at City.  She has forthcoming a co-written article on Seafarers Wages and is currently researching labour law at sea. 

She is engaged on a joint project with Professor Sarah Bros of the University of Paris Dauphine on the Loi Devoir de Vigilance.

She holds an Hon Adj Professorship at Jindal Global University and is working on a long term project based at its Centre for Legal Empowerment of the Poor with Professor Ajay Pandey.

Sandhya is a peer reviewer for the Journal of Industrial Relations (Sage). 

She is a member of the COST working group on Liberty at Sea. 

She is Joint Convenor of the London Labour Lawyers Discussion Group, based at City St Georges in 26/27.

She is an evaluator of projects for the Association of Commonwealth Universities via the ACU Roster of Experts

Employment

• Associate Professor, City St Georges, UK, August 2025 - present
• Senior Fellow, Centre for the Legal Empowerment of the Poor, India, February 2025 - present
• Hon Adjunct Professor, O. P. Jindal Global University, India, February 2025 - January 2027
• Joint Blog Editor, Business and Human Rights Journal, Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom, July 2021 - August 2023
• Assistant Dean (International Students and Exchanges), City Law School, United Kingdom, September 2020 - October 2021
• Governor, St Georges NHS Trust, 2020 - 2026
• Member, Business School Research Ethics Committee, Business School, United Kingdom, February 2019 - February 2021
• Visiting Professor, University of Paris Nanterre, France, September 2017 - February 2026

Languages

French (can read, write, speak, understand spoken, peer review), German (can understand spoken), Hindi (can read, write, speak, understand spoken), Italian (can read, write, speak, understand spoken, peer review) and Spanish; Castilian (can read, speak, understand spoken)

Expertise

Geographic Areas

• Asia - South Central
• Europe

Publications by category