Berlin Rules on Water Resources

On August 21, 2004, the International Law Association (ILA), meeting in Berlin, developed and approved what became known as the Berlin Rules on Water Resources. It quickly became known as the authoritative summary of all the customary international law applicable to waters.

History

Madrid

As countries develop and world populations increase, potable water will increase in importance and value while supplies decline, creating the potential for conflict. To resolve existing disputes and prevent future conflict, the international community expended considerable effort in the 20th century to develop and refine principles of international freshwater management. At its meeting in Madrid in 1911, the Institute of International Law published a set of basic recommendations in its, "Madrid Declaration on the International Regulation regarding the Use of International Watercourses for Purposes other than Navigation". These recommendations discouraged unilateral basin alterations and harmful changes to international rivers and advocated the creation of joint water commissions. The Helsinki Rules expanded on these guidelines. [ [http://www.transboundarywaters.orst.edu/publications/atlas/atlas_html/foreword/internationalAgreements.html The World’s International Freshwater Agreements] ]

Helsinki

The ILA also developed the Helsinki Rules of 1966 on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers. The Helsinki Rules outlined principles related to the “equitable utilization” of shared watercourses and the commitment not to cause “substantial injury” to co-riparian states. The 189 page document included some soft law, but the majority was hard law. [ [http://webworld.unesco.org/water/wwap/pccp/cd/pdf/educational_tools/course_modules/reference_documents/internationalregionconventions/helsinkirules.pdf UNESCO.com: The Helsinki Rules on the Uses of the Waters of International Rivers] ]

United Nations

During 1970, the United Nations General Assembly refrained from endorsing the Helsinki Rules. Instead, they requested their own legal advisory body, the International Law Commission to prepare “draft articles” on the “non-navigational uses of international watercourses” modeled on the Helsinki Rules.

The Commission’s Draft Articles were completed in 1994, which in turn were revised by the Sixth Legal Committee of the General Assembly into the United Nations Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses. This was approved by the U.N. General Assembly by a vote of 103-3 on May 21, 1997.

Ratification of the U.N. Convention, like everything else at the U.N., has proceeded slowly and has not officially entered into force, but it has become recognized as authoritative on the customary international law governing the issues addressed.

Berlin

The Berlin Rules include all waters, not just trans-boundary or international waters and incorporate into a single document the customary international law applicable to waters and the relevant international standards for environmental law, human rights and humanitarian law. [ [http://library.witpress.com/pages/PaperInfo.asp?PaperID=14577 Wessex Institute eLibrary: Devising new law to address global water scarcity by J. W. Dellapenna] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.ila-hq.org/pdf/Water%20Resources/Water%20Resources%20FR%202004Sources.pdf Helsinki Rules Document] * [http://www.asil.org/ilib/WaterReport2004.pdf Berlin Rules 2004] (broken link)