Dear all, Please find below a forwarded email from Surya Deva of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights. They are seeking signatures from academics (must have academic affiliation) for an open letter that aims to advance the zero draft of the Business and Human Rights treaty. If you or your colleagues have an interest in this particular initiative, please direct emails directly to Surya (see contact below) by 28 September. All the best, Luca [http://www.fgv.br/mailing/2018/direito_rio/assinatura/fgv_direito_rio.jpg] Luca Belli, PhD Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation [http://www.fgv.br/mailing/2018/direito_rio/assinatura/fgv_tel.jpg]+55 21 3799 5763 t @1lucabelli<https://twitter.com/1lucabelli> [http://www.fgv.br/mailing/2018/direito_rio/assinatura/fgv_direito_rio_map.j… de Botafogo, 190 13º andar Botafogo - Rio de Janeiro, RJ - CEP: 22250-900 [http://www.fgv.br/mailing/2018/direito_rio/assinatura/fgv_ass_email.jpg] luca.belli@fgv.br<mailto:luca.belli@fgv.br> [http://www.fgv.br/mailing/2018/direito_rio/assinatura/fgv_ass_url.jpg]inter… <https://internet-governance.fgv.br/> De: Surya Deva [mailto:suryad@cityu.edu.hk] Enviada em: quinta-feira, 27 de setembro de 2018 11:55 Para: Luca Belli &lt;luca.belli(a)fgv.br&gt; Assunto: RE: Invitation to join an open letter to states re the BHR Treaty Dear Luca Please feel free to circulate to other academics who may be interested to join this letter. They should write to me (suryad@cityu.edu.hk<mailto:suryad@cityu.edu.hk>) by Friday evening. Thanks in advance! Should I add your name? pl let me know. Best Surya Dear all As you may know, an open-ended intergovernmental working group (OEIGWG) on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights – established by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2014 – is currently negotiating an international legally binding instrument: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/WGTransCorp/Pages/IGWGOnTNC.aspx The fourth session of the OEIGWG is scheduled for 15-19 October 2018 to discuss a zero draft of the proposed instrument as well as its optional protocol. I along with a few other scholars have drafted an open letter to states. Please see the attached letter. It makes three points: (i) that an international legally binding instrument is needed to complement existing regulatory initiatives at national, regional and international levels; (ii) that the zero draft of the proposed instrument as well as the optional protocol provides a concrete basis for states to negotiate in good faith; and (iii) that there is sufficient legal basis to hold further sessions (including the Fourth Session) without a new resolution of the Human Rights Council. We are inviting scholars from all the over world to join this open letter to states to be released on Monday, 1 October 2018. If you would like to sign the letter, please send an email to me – mentioning your name and your institutional affiliation – latest by Friday, 28 September. Kindly do not publish or post the letter before 1 October. You may though circulate within your networks to collect signatures. Apologies in advance for cross-posting. Best Surya ------------------------------- Surya Deva Associate Professor School of Law, City University of Hong Kong 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong Tel.: (852) 3442 7370 Fax: (852) 3442 0190 Skype: surya.deva Twitter: @ProfSuryaDeva<https://twitter.com/ProfSuryaDeva> Building a Treaty on Business and Human Rights: Context and Contours<http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/law/human-rights/… Human Rights Obligations of Business: Beyond the Corporate Responsibility to Respect?<http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/law/human-rights/… Regulating Corporate Human Rights Violations: Humanizing Business <http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415715270/> Some of Surya's papers are available on SSRN<http://ssrn.com/author=403831> Disclaimer: This email (including any attachments) is for the use of the intended recipient only and may contain confidential information and/or copyright material. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately and delete this email and all copies from your system. Any unauthorized use, disclosure, reproduction, copying, distribution, or other form of unauthorized dissemination of the contents is expressly prohibited.