The Guiding Legal Regime and Institutional Arrangement of Transboundary Watercourse: A Review (original) (raw)

The Legal Response to International Water Conflicts: The UN Watercourses Convention and Beyond

GERMAN YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, 1999

The UN Watercourses Convention, adopted in May 1997, and ratified to date by six Parties/ is a global framework agreement with the goal to "ensure the utilization, development, conservation, management and protection of international watercourses" and the promotion of their optimal and sustainable utilization for present and future generations. In line with this, the Convention requires that "an international watercourse shall be used and developed by watercourse States with a view to attaining optimal and sustainable utilization thereof and benefits therefrom, taking into account the interests of the watercourse States concerned, consistent with adequate protection of the watercourse." This paper addresses the question whether the UN Watercourses Convention facilitates achievement of these aims, specifically in the context of conflicts-of-uses and water scarcity.

Revisiting the Substantive Rules of the Law of International Watercourses: An Analysis Through the Lens of Reciprocity and the Interests of China

2018

The United Nations Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, 1997, finally entered into force in August 2014 after nearly 17 years. To explain this delay scholars point to, among other reasons, misconceptions of the substantive rules of equitable and reasonable use and the duty not to cause significant harm, particularly between upstream and downstream states. Reciprocity plays an important role within international law especially in treaties, where it informs the distribution of rights and duties, advantages and disadvantages, establishing balance and fairness in the legal regime. Together this ensures that states cannot interpret treaty provisions in their favour. Using the Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses as an authoritative text, this article aims to analyse the substantive rules of international law concerning transboundary water resources including equitable and reasonable use and the duty not to cause significant harm through the lens of reciprocity and the interests of China. In doing so, it aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of the rules and to establish that these principles do not favour upstream or downstream states, but instead promote balance amongst riparians. The complete version of this article can be found here: http://wp.iwaponline.com/content/early/2017/10/24/wp.2017.069.article-info

Principles of international water law: creating effective transboundary water resources management

International Journal of Sustainable Society, 2009

This article summarises the principles of international water law related to transboundary water resources management and analyses to what extent these principles are incorporated in recent international conventions and treaties. The study reveals that principle of equitable and reasonable utilisation, obligation not to cause significant harm, principles of cooperation, information exchange, notification, consultation and peaceful settlement of disputes are widely acknowledged by modern international conventions, agreements and treaties. These principles could facilitate effective transboundary water resources management involving riparian countries of shared watercourses and hence, promote sustainable development around the world.

Principles of International Water Law in Protection of Transboundary Watercourses the Key Role of the Obligation Not to Cause Significant Harm

2019

The management of the world 263 shared river basins is often problematic nowadays. The use of these transboundary rivers is dotted with strong tensions that threatening peace among the riparian States. To overcome this phenomenon, principles defining the rights and duties of States are enshrined in many bilateral or multilateral conventions, including the New York Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses. These principles include the obligation not to cause significant harm, enshrined in the text of the New York Convention of 1997 is one of its basic principles. This principle and its corollaries are currently considered as one of the cornerstones of international water law and figured prominently in several recent case law. This article aims to analyze the scope of the principle of the obligation not to cause significant and its harm through the New York framework Convention, and its key role in both protection, and peaceful management of transbo...