Academic literature on the topic 'Water lights (International law)'

The rapidly increasing population in the developing world is creating heavy pressure on the use of water for mushrooming cities, domestic consumption, and irrigated agriculture. At the same time effluents and water for human settlements, industry and agriculture are overloading the capacity of watercourses to recuperate. The use and misuse of water in one location can have far-flung effects, altering downstream resources, affecting the reliability of water flows, and degrading water quality and aquatic ecosystems. States have the tendency to use water as much as possible for their own benefit transferring the negative externalities to other riparian. In the absence of legal rule, a norm to address these tensions, water competition is likely to cause discord between groups dependent on the same resources. Several doctrines have been put forward by nations to justify their unilateral interest. International water law, a relatively new branch of international law aims to advocate that every notion sharing a watercourse is entitled to a reasonable and equitable share. Recognising the significance of international river basins, the International Law Commission, on the recommendation of United Nations General Assembly, worked for two decades to bring about a Convention to help in regulating the use of international watercourses in an equitable an reasonable manner. On this premise this study attempts to trace out a picture of the evolution and development of international water law, identifying the major issues and forces that are vital to the problem of sharing of water resources in international river basins of the world. It also tries to examine the theoretical premises of utilisation of international water resources and seeks to suggest practical and implmentable proposals for the better water sharing arrangements for the purpose of maintaining the balanced interests of all the riparian states.

The world’s freshwater supplies are squeezed by rapidly increasing demand, the impacts of global climate change and unsustainable management. Given the fact that water is the gossamer linking various other security issues – e.g., energy, food and environment – it seems obvious that ‘business as usual’ in transboundary water management will threaten future global stability and endanger the very foundation of international security. Yet, the much needed radical new approach is missing. This is mainly due to the fact that addressing water insecurity is a highly complex task where multilevel and polycentric forces must be balanced and coordinated. The absence of law in much of this emerging debate highlights the necessity for further understanding and elucidation, especially from the legal perspective. This PhD thesis aims to add to the discourse by providing a fresh conceptualisation of water security and developing an operational methodology for identifying the four core elements of water security – availability, access, adaptability and ambit – which must be addressed by international law. The analysis of the legal framework of transboundary freshwater management based on this contemporary understanding of water security reveals the challenges and shortcomings of the current legal regime. In order to address these shortcomings, the present mindset of prevailing rigidity and state-centrism is challenged by examining how international legal instruments could be crafted to advance a more flexible and common approach towards transboundary water interaction. Here, the concept of considering water security as a matter of ‘regional common concern’ is introduced to help international law play a more prominent role in addressing the challenges of global water insecurity. Ways for implementing such an approach are proposed and analysed by looking at international hydropolitics in Himalayan Asia. At a time when international environmental law is said to be losing relevance, the growing complexity and interdependence between states demands a break with the prevalence of thinking in silos and within national borders. This PhD thesis analyses transboundary water interaction – the fault line of international conflict in the 21st century – as a ‘case study’ for advancing public international law in order to fulfil its responsibility of promoting international peace and security.

Thesis (LLD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.<br>Bibliography<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The worsening scarcity of fresh water resources has led to an increasing number of people without sustainable access to safe water across the globe. Water privatisation has been presented as the panacea to addressing the global water crisis. Privatisation of water has heightened the impetus for the explicit recognition of water as a human right. This dissertation seeks to establish the legal status of the right to water under international human rights law. The dissertation further attempts to ascertain the scope and normative content of such a right. In order to answer these questions, this dissertation carries out a detailed analysis of the possible legal basis, scope and normative content of the right to water under international human rights law. The principal question that arises is how a State can ensure compliance with its human rights obligations in the event of involvement of non-State actors such as private corporations in the management and distribution of water services. This dissertation‘s main hypothesis is that although privatisation of water services does not relieve the State of its legal responsibility under international human rights law, such privatisation imposes certain obligations on private actors consistent with the right to water. The dissertation goes beyond articulating normative considerations and looks at implementation at the national level by highlighting good practices on the practical implementation of the right to water consistent with the normative standards imposed by the right. The dissertation‘s key contribution is its development of an accountability model to ensure that States and private actors involved in the provision of water services have clearly designated roles and responsibilities consistent with the human right to water. If properly implemented, the model has the potential to give greater specification to the normative commitments imposed by the right to water in privatisation scenarios.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die verergerende skaarste van vars water bronne het aanleiding gegee tot die toename in die hoeveelheid mense sonder volhoubare toegang tot veilige water oor die hele aarde. Dit word aangevoer dat die privatisering van water die wondermiddel is om die globale water krisis aan te spreek. Die privatisering van water het aanleiding gegee tot 'n verskerpte aandrang om water uitdruklik te erken as 'n mensereg. Hierdie proefskrif poog om die regsstatus van die reg tot water te vestig binne die raamwerk van internasionale menseregte. Die proefskrif probeer verder om vas te stel wat die omvang en normatiewe inhoud van so 'n reg sal wees. Vervolgens voltrek hierdie proefskrif 'n uitvoerige analise van die moontlike regsbasis, omvang en normatiewe inhoud van die reg tot water binne die raamwerk van internasionale menseregte. Die vernaamste vraag wat opduik is hoe 'n Staat kan verseker dat sy menseregte verpligtinge nagekom word waar nie-Regeringsrolspelers soos korporasies betrokke is by die bestuur en distribusie van waterdienste. Die kern hipotese van hierdie proefskrif is dat alhoewel die privatisering van waterdienste nie die Staat verlig van sy regsverpligtinge in terme van internasionale menseregte nie, sodanige privatisering sekere verpligtinge aan privaatrolspelers voorskryf wat in lyn is met die reg op water. Hierdie proefskrif gaan verder as die artikulering van normatiewe oorwegings en kyk ook na die implementering op nasionale vlak deur goeie praktyke uit te lig met betrekking tot die prakiese implementering van die reg tot water wat konsekwent is met die normatiewe standaarde wat die reg voorskryf. Die kern bydrae van hierdie proefskrif is die ontwikkeling van 'n aanspreeklikheismodel wat versker dat Regerings en privaat rolspelers wat betrokke is by die voorsiening van waterdienste duidelik aangewysde funksies en verantwoordelikhede het wat in lyn is met die reg tot water. Indien hierdie model behoorlik implementeer word, het dit die potensiaal om grooter spesifikasie te gee aan die normatiewe verpligtinge wat deur die reg tot water voorgeskryf word in privatiserings scenarios.

Implementing the goal of sustainable development has long been heralded as the means by which the needs of both present and future generations can be met. However, finding a long-term balance between economic, social and environmental interests, the basic tenet of sustainable development, has proved largely illusive in practice. This thesis shows that, while a number of “legal frameworks for sustainable development” have been proposed at the international level, they fail to fully capture the essence of sustainable development and international law’s capacity to support its implementation. Through a study of the law of international watercourses the thesis shows that a sophisticated legal mechanism, comprised of key substantive and procedural rights and obligations between States, exists to reconcile competing economic, social and environmental interests. Moreover, the thesis illustrates how the basic approach taken by the law of international watercourses can be used as a model for further developing international law in the field of sustainable development. The thesis is divided into four sections. The first section includes an overview of the topic area and an understanding of international law. In section two the thesis explores the meaning of sustainable development and considers the term’s relationship with international law. A detailed analysis of how the law of international watercourses seeks to reconcile competing economic, social and environmental interests is carried out in section three. The thesis concludes with a fourth section advocating the need for a fresh approach to international law and sustainable development and offering the foundations for this fresh approach based on lessons learnt from the law of international watercourses.

China, the world's most populous country, has been experiencing a severe water crisis. This has manifested itself through water shortages, water pollution and natural water disasters, and has been exacerbated by the rapid social and economic development that has taken place in the last two decades. To deal with these problems, an integrated water resources management programme, within which an effective and enforceable water rights system can play a key role, should emerge as soon as possible under the principle of sustainable development. However, there are many problems under the water rights system in the current Chinese water law, involving the property right of water resources, the human right to water, and the environmental right to water. ... this dissertation recommends a well structured water rights system under which the economic, social and environmental values of water resources co-exist equitably in harmony.

This thesis explores whether international trade rules apply to Canada’s fresh water resources. In order to determine if international trade rules apply, in particular the rules contained in GATT 1947, GATT 1994, and NAFTA, three questions are posed by the author. The first question focuses the enquiry on the legal characterization of fresh water resources in the selected international legal instruments to determine the obligations contained in the trade agreements apply. The second question is, if the first question cannot be answered, what other interpretive tools can be employed to come to an answer. Finally, the third question is, if international trade obligations apply the the bulk export of fresh water resources, are there any exemptions which can be employed to limit or prohibit the bulk export of the resource. In order to answer these questions, the author applies a traditional legal doctrinal analysis. This provides a method of analyzing the legal texts of the international agreements and other legal materials in an orderly and systematic manner. Using this methodology, the author engages with the primary materials to determine the ordinary meaning of the words and phrases used in the texts. In addition to the analysis of the legal texts, the author reviews the history of the development of Canada’s international trade and foreign policy through the lens of the international relations theory of exogenous shock. By using the theory of exogenous shock as an interpretive aid, the author is able to provide justification in concluding that the preferred interpretation that Canada’s international trade obligations found in GATT and NAFTA do not apply to Canada’s fresh water resources.<br>Law, Peter A. Allard School of<br>Graduate