The Human Right to Water: Legal and Policy Dimensions (Law, Justice, and Development Series)

""The Human Right to Water" traces the issue of the right to water through a number of international legal instruments, particularly General Comment No. 15 which recognizes such a right. It analyzes the international legal regime for human rights, and argues that the nexus between development, water and human rights is well established therein. Although the central theme of the Study is General Comment No. 15 issued by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2002 which explicitly recognizes a human right to water, the Study argues that the Comment supports the idea that there is an incipient right to water emerging in international law today. This right is buttressed by a large number of soft law instruments, emerging customary international law, as well as an increasing number of domestic law instruments.The authors are recognized experts in their fields. Salman M. A. Salman is lead counsel in the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development and International Law Practice Group (ESSD and International Law) of the World Bank Legal Vice Presidency. He is the Bank's focal person on water law, and has published extensively in this field. Siobhan McInerney-Lankford is counsel in the ESSD and International Law Practice Group. She specializes in human rights law, and has written widely in this area." The evolution of the right to water can be traced to the developments of the early 1970s. This Study analyzes the resolutions and declarations of the various conferences and forums that have been held since that time, and the ways in which they have confronted the issue of the right to water. The Study then discusses the evolution of the international legal regime for the protection and promotion of human rights, and pays particular attention to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The role of each of the committees established to oversee the implementation of the two Covenants is considered in some detail. Particular attention is given to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, its evolution, and its strengthening, and the practice of issuing General Comments. The last two parts of the Study are devoted to General Comment No. 15, which recognizes the human right to water. These parts analyze the extent to which the Comment recognizes a legal right to water, and highlights some policy aspects that are related to, and may affect, this right. The core thesis of this book is that there exists, within the legal framework of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a human right to water because it is a right that inheres in several other rights, and a right without which key provisions of the Covenant would be rendered ineffectual. This conclusion is buttressed also by the interpretative authority that lies with the Committee having evolved from its initial form as a Working Group, to what is now undeniably, a fully-fledged entity, with significant formal authority and legitimacy. Although this conclusion acknowledges that General Comments do not create new rights, it recognizes that General Comment No. 15 extrapolates the normative and practical bases of a human right to water within the fabric of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Together with a number of General Assembly resolutions on the issue, including the Millennium Development Goal related to water, as well as the voluminous body of soft law provisions, the General Comment arguably provides further evidence that there is an incipient right to water evolving in public international law today. Moreover, the Comment has offered a new momentum to efforts aimed at translating those sof .. Contents......Page 7 Foreword......Page 9 Abstract......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 13 Abbreviations......Page 15 INTRODUCTION......Page 17 PART ONE Genesis of the Debate on the Right to Water......Page 23 Early Developments......Page 33 The International Covenants on Human Rights......Page 44 Evolution of the Role of the Committee and Its Early Comments......Page 61 General Comment No. 15—The Right to Water......Page 69 Derivation and Inference......Page 72 Centrality and Necessity......Page 75 Prior Recognition......Page 76 PART FOUR Legal and Policy Dimensions of General Comment No. 15......Page 81 CONCLUSION......Page 101 Select Bibliography......Page 107 Appendix I Universal Declaration of Human Rights......Page 117 Appendix II International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights......Page 125 Appendix III International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights......Page 139 Appendix IV Economic and Social Council Resolution 1985/17 on the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights......Page 161 Appendix V General Comment No. 15—The Right to Water......Page 165 Index......Page 187

whether Access To Water Is A Right Or A Privilege Is Not An Issue: International Bodies Agree That All Humans Have A Right To Water. However, How That Water Gets To Them Is Complicated By Particular Geophysical, Political, Legal And Social Conditions. Salman (chief Counsel) And Mcinerney-lankford (counsel) Of The Environmentally And Socially Sustainable Development And International Law Group Of The World Bank Examine The Work Already Done To Provide Access To Water Universal, Particularly That Related To The General Comment No. 15 Issued By The Committee On Economic, Social And Cultural Rights In 2002. They Conclude That Much Still Needs To Be Done, But Do Give Some Instances Where Regions Are Taking Steps To Ensure All Citizens Have Access To Clean Water. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, Or

"The Human Right to Water: Legal and Policy Dimensions traces the issue of the right to water through a number of international legal instruments, particularly General Comment No. 15, issued in 2002 by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which recognizes a human right to water. It analyzes the international legal regime for human rights and argues that the development-water-human rights nexus is rapidly evolving."--BOOK JACKET.