The Human Right To Water Its Multi Level Protection And Implementation In International European And National Law

The object of the research work is the analysis of the multilevel protection of the human right to water and the current degree of implementation that it has received in international, European, and national law, comparing the Italian and German contexts from the constitutional law perspective. Given the absence of an express recognition of the human right to water, another research question concerns the examination of the mechanisms of multilevel protection of human rights, assessing whether the relationships between the different levels of protection can contribute to the realisation of this fundamental human right. The research analyses the main sources of law and jurisprudence of each examined context, to understand the legal basis for the recognition of the human right to water, considering both the necessary protection of environmental aspects, as well as social and economic ones, fundamental for its full realisation. The analysis of normative and jurisprudential sources is supported by the examination of the most relevant doctrine.

Politicians and diplomats have for many years proclaimed a human right to water as a solution to the global water crisis, most recently in the 2010 UN General Assembly Resolution “The human right to water and sanitation”. To what extent, however, can a right to water legally and philosophically exist and what difference to international law and politics can it make? This question lies at the heart of this book. The book’s answer is to argue that a right to water exists under international law but in a more differentiated and multi-level manner than previously recognised. Rather than existing as a singular and comprehensive right, the right to water should be understood as a composite right of different layers, both deriving from separate rights to health, life and an adequate standard of living, and supported by an array of regional and national rights. The author also examines the right at a conceptual level. After disproving some of the theoretical objections to the category of socio-economic rights generally and the concept of a right to water more specifically, the manuscript develops an innovative approach towards the interplay of different rights to water among different legal orders. The book argues for an approach to human rights – including the right to water – as international minimum standards, using the right to water as a model case to demonstrate how multilevel human rights protection can function effectively. The book also addresses a crucial last question: how does one make an international right to water meaningful in practice? The manuscript identifies three crucial criteria in order to strengthen such a composite derived right in practice: independent monitoring; enforcement towards the private sector; and international realization. The author examines to what extent these criteria are currently adhered to, and suggests practical ways of how they could be better met in the future.​

Facing the deficits of international water law in safeguarding a basic water supply, the book discusses the appropriateness of a human rights-based approach to freshwater access, determines its legal basis in international human rights law, and develops suggestions for law improvement.

Scarcity of water, floods and erosion caused by climate change have made the management of water resources a challenge to national and international actors worldwide. States have also initiated water projects to improve social welfare, often with significant impacts on the environment. This book combines close analysis of the legal structures of water rights with consideration of the modes of water management projects to illustrate current water-related problems in terms of practical solutions in a global context.

This book, which was first published in 1992 and then updated in 2007, provides a tool for dealing with the legal and institutional aspects of water resources management within national contexts and at the level of transboundary water resources. Like its two previous editions, it seeks to cover all aspects that need to be known in order to attain good water governance, but it provides updates concerning developments since 2007. These relate, inter alia, to the following: - the “greening” of water law, which calls for the progressive integration of environmental law principles into domestic and international water law; - the adoption, by the International Law Commission in 2008, of the Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers, and subsequent developments; - the emergence of the right to water as a self-standing human right; - the adoption of domestic water laws supporting integrated water resources management (IWRM) and enhanced public participation in planning and decision making; - the integration into these laws of tools facilitating adaptive water management as a response to climate variability and change; - progress in the implementation of EU law; - recent international agreements and judicial decisions; - efforts of regional organizations other than the EU to steer cooperation in the management of transboundary water resources and the harmonization of national laws; - institutional mechanisms for the management of transboundary water resources (surface and underground). Unique in its scope and nature, the book identifies the legal and institutional issues arising in connection with water resources management and provides guidelines for possible solutions in a manner accessible to a wide range of readers. Thus, it is a useful reference for lawyers and non-lawyers — engineers, hydrologists, hydrogeologists, economists, sociologists — dealing with water resources within government institutions, river basin commissions, international organizations, financing institutions and academic institutions, among other things, and also for students of disciplines related to water resources.

Currently, it is reported that more than two billion people are affected by water shortages in over 40 countries, with diseases associated with unsafe drinking water and lack of adequate sanitation among the leading causes of death in developing countries. Predictions forecast that by the year 2050, at least one in four people is likely to live in a country affected by chronic or recurring shortages of fresh water. This publication, written by recognised experts in this field, explores the genesis of the debate on the right to water and the links between development issues, water resources and human rights. It focuses on the importance of General Comment No. 15 (issued by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2002) which explicitly recognizes a human right to water; and concludes that an incipient right to water is emerging in international law, supported by several soft law instruments, evolving customary international law and an increasing number of domestic law provisions.

Of the world's 6 billion people, 1.1 billion lack access to safe drinking water. The aim of this booklet is to highlight and promote the right to water as a fundamental human right. It looks at who is affected, the responsibility of governments and the implications for other stakeholders

The first book to engage in a comprehensive examination of the human right to water in theory and in practice.