Moving Ahead in Protecting Freshwater Resources: The International Law Commission's Draft Articles on Transboundary Aquifers

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 801-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
KERSTIN MECHLEM
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Water Law ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Freshwater Resources ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
International Water Law ◽  
International Water ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers

AbstractOn 11 December 2008 the UN General Assembly adopted a set of draft articles on the law of transboundary aquifers which had been prepared by the International Law Commission (ILC) between 2002 and August 2008. These draft articles are the first official instrument that lays down rules of international law for the management and protection of groundwater, which makes up 97 per cent of the Earth's freshwater resources, excluding the resources locked in polar ice. This article discusses the contribution of the draft articles to the development of international water law. It first provides some background on the importance of shared groundwater resources, then describes the ILC's work on transboundary aquifers, and finally assesses in detail the draft articles and the way ahead.

The Work of the International Law Commission, 2007–2011: Progress and Prospects

2012 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald McRae
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission ◽  
The Way

On November 17, 2011, the UN General Assembly elected the members of the International Law Commission for the next five years. In the course of the quinquennium that was completed in August 2011 with the end of the sixty-third session, the Commission concluded four major topics on its agenda: the law of transboundary aquifers, the responsibility of international organizations, the effect of armed conflicts on treaties, and reservations to treaties. It was by any standard a substantial output. The beginning of a new quinquennium now provides an opportunity to assess what the Commission has achieved, to consider the way it operates, and to reflect on what lies ahead for it.

International Water R esources Law and the International Law Commission Draft Articles on Transboundary Aquifers: A Missed Opportunity for Cross-Fertilisation?

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen McIntyre
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
Guiding Principle ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Geological Formation ◽  
International Water ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission ◽  
Missed Opportunity

AbstractWhile the Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers adopted in 2008 by the International Law Commission (ILC)1 follow the same format as the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention2 and might reasonably have been expected to adopt a similar normative approach wherever possible, the Preamble to the Draft Articles fails to make any reference to this or to other seminal instruments or codifications in the area of international water resources law and the document takes, in some respects, a radically different and less progressive stance. The principal difference in the Draft Articles, and one which can be linked to most of the other deviations, is the inclusion of an express reference to the sovereignty of aquifer States in a manner implying that this is the key guiding principle of the instrument. This emphasis on State sovereignty over shared, and often migratory, water resources appears to represent something of a retreat from the distributive equity inherent in the firmly established principle of equitable and reasonable utilization and from the intense procedural and institutional cooperation required to achieve the community of interests approach necessary to give meaning to this principle. Reliance on sovereignty implies instead a drift towards a position based more on the narrow and immediate self-interest of States. In order to avoid such an interpretation, it would have been better if the Draft Articles had sought to establish two separate but parallel regimes, one based on sovereignty and covering the static geological formation of the aquifer, and one covering the shared water resources contained in, and transiting through, the formation and based on equitable and reasonable utilization.

scholarly journals Water Security and International Law

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Kuokkanen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
Water Law ◽  
Rules And Principles ◽  
International Water Law ◽  
International Water ◽  
The Relationship

The article explores water security from an international law point of view. The article argues that in order to better understand water security it is important to focus on the function of international water law. Even though water security is a relatively recent concept it was latent in the process of the evolution of international water law.  In addition, the article examines the relationship between man and water from the point of view of water security. The article seeks to answer the question: how does international water law deal with that relationship? Is water only an object to be utilized and protected or has the relationship become more complex and ambivalent through the occurrence of various extreme events. Furthermore, the article places the concept of water security into a historiographical and substantive context. It explores three broad approaches by international law to water issues: general international law, the regulatory approach and the management approach. The article argues that they are all relevant to water security. Finally, the article seeks to demonstrate that even though water security has emerged as a new notion, this does not mean that international law does not include rules and principles relevant for water security. Indeed, many general principles of international law are applicable in the context of water security. In addition, specific regulations dealing with water quantity and quality issues have been developed in international environmental law, although they are not necessarily labelled as water security rules. Moreover, various risk management methods have been elaborated to deal with water-related disasters and crises. Reciprocally, water security arguments are not necessarily new notions but rather reflect already existing concepts and principles. 

scholarly journals O Papel do Institut du Droit International e da International Law Association na Codificação das normas do Direito Internacional de Águas: entre hard law e soft law

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (39) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gildo Manuel Espada
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
Water Law ◽  
Hard Law ◽  
The Status ◽  
International Water Law ◽  
International Water ◽  
Droit International ◽  
Vital Resource

RESUMOA importância da água como recurso vital para a humanidade e as disputas sobre o acesso a este recurso são cada vez mais intensas. Aliado a estes factos, acontece que grande parte dos recursos de água do planeta faz parte de recursos hídricos partilhados entre dois ou mais Estados. Este facto fez com que algumas organizações internacionais, mormente o Institut du Droit International e a International Law Association se esforçassem em codificar o Direito Internacional de Águas. Entretanto, apesar de todo o esforço feito, as normas aprovadas não obtiveram o estatuto de hard law, sendo aplicadas na qualidade de normas de soft law. Discutimos aqui a validade e importância de tais normas, no âmbito da Codificação do Direito de Águas. Para tal, fazemos um levantamento bibliográfico que visa o resgate histórico do surgimento do Direito de Águas, e trazemos importantes conceitos aplicáveis à temática. PALAVRAS-CHAVECodificação. Direito. Águas. ABSTRACTThe importance of water as a vital resource for humanity and the disputes over access to this resource are increasingly intense. Together with these facts, a large part of the planet´s water resources are shared between two or more States. These facts have led to a number of international organizations, including the Institut de Droit International and the International Law Association to embark in efforts to codify the International water Law.  However, despite all the efforts made, the rules adopted did not obtain the status of hard law, being only accepted and applied as soft law. We discuss here the validity and importance of such standards, within the framework of the codification of water law. To do this, we make a bibliographical research that aims to review the emergence of Water Law historically, and to bring important concepts applicable to this thematic. KEYWORDSCodification. Law. Water.

Past, Present and Future of the International Law of Transboundary Aquifers

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Mechlem
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Water Law ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Law ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission ◽  
The Way

AbstractThe article discusses the development of international groundwater law from the first codification efforts of modern water law until present and raises relevant issues for the way forward. It first traces international groundwater law from the 1960s until the end of the last century. It then reviews the growing attention groundwater has received during the last decade and third discusses the status quo. It places particular emphasis on the 2008 Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers adopted by the International Law Commission and the legal arrangements made for five of the 273 transboundary aquifers. It concludes with thoughts on the way forward in this important and understudied area of international law.

The Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers: The Process at the UN ILC

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raya Marina Stephan
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Proper Management ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission

AbstractIn 2002, the UN International Law Commission added to its program of work the topic of Shared Natural Resources: transboundary groundwater, oil and gas. Six years later, the UN ILC completed its work on the first sub-topic by adopting at second reading nineteen draft articles on the law of transboundary aquifers. The draft articles were then deferred to the UN General Assembly, which adopted Resolution A/RES/63/124 including the draft articles in annex. In the Resolution, the UN GA “encourages the States concerned to make appropriate bilateral or regional arrangements for the proper management of their transboundary aquifers, taking into account the provisions of these draft articles”.The paper will go through the main principles codified in the draft articles. The UN ILC had benefited from a unique cooperation on the science of hydrogeology from UNESCO’s International Hydrological Program; hence it considered and covered issues of main importance for hydrogeologists.

International Law and Policy Governing Water

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
National Level ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
International Water Law ◽  
International Water ◽  
Water Treaty ◽  
Special Relevance

This chapter brings together key international legal instruments of the water sector, which provide the context and inform developments at the national level. The chapter starts with a section on the human right to water, as embodied in international treaties, UN General Assembly Resolutions and General Comment 15. The second section looks at protection and regulation of water and includes key soft law instruments, including the Stockholm Declaration, 1972 and the Dublin Statement, 1992. The last section focuses on what is more traditionally understood as international water law and reproduces the main framework treaty in the field, the UN Watercourses Convention, 1997, the proposed global framework for transboundary aquifers and a bilateral treaty (the Indus Water Treaty), which are of special relevance to India.

The International Law Association Helsinki Rules

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-110
Author(s):  
Slavko Bogdanović
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
Water Law ◽  
Intensive Study ◽  
International Rivers ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
International Water Law ◽  
International Water

AbstractAlthough the International Law Association (ILA) was established in 1873, it only turned its attention to the internationally shared water resources in 1954, when its study of the applicable principles and rules of international law thereon began. The first ILA committee assigned to this task was the Rivers Committee, which, after a decade of intensive study and through several resolutions and statements, arrived unanimously at a set of articles reflecting customary international law, known as The Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers.The Helsinki Rules approved at the ILA Helsinki Conference in 1966 were soon widely accepted across the globe as a non-binding authoritative source of international water law. This monograph traces the work of ILA leading to the approval of the Helsinki Rules, analyses the Rules, and identifies their influence on, and contribution to the evolution of international water law.

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