International Law and Transboundary Aquifers

Ground Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Todd Jarvis
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers

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 The Expulsion of Aliens and Other Topics: The Sixty-Fourth Session of the International Law Commission

2013 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean D. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
First Year ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Fourth Session ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission

The International Law Commission held its sixty-fourth session in Geneva from May 7 to June 1, and from July 2 to August 3, 2012, under the chairmanship of Lucius Caflisch. The session marked the first year of a new quinquennium (2012–2016), with the Commission having completed its work during the prior quinquennium (2007–2011) on four major topics: transboundary aquifers, effects of armed conflict on treaties, reservations to treaties, and responsibility of international organizations.

scholarly journals Buried Treasure or Buried Hope? The Status of Mexico-U.S. Transboundary Aquifers under International Law

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel E. Eckstein
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Law ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Agreement ◽  
National Economic ◽  
The Status ◽  
Critical Resource ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers

AbstractTransboundary aquifers found along the 2,000 mile-long border between Mexico and the United States are not governed by any treaty. Yet, these aquifers are the primary source of water for many of the twelve million people who live in this parched region. The region’s groundwater, however, is being overexploited and contaminated, which is threatening the very life that it currently sustains. As populations continue to expand and current rates of haphazard development persist, the absence of an agreement for the management and allocation of this critical resource could lead to bi-national economic, social and environmental tragedies. This study reviews groundwater resources along the Mexico-United States border and considers the obstacles to the development of an international agreement. It also looks at existing sources of law at the local, regional, national, and international levels of governance. The article offers recommendations that may lead to an amicable arrangement between the two nations.

The Fifty-Eighth Session of the International Law Commission

2007 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-441
Author(s):  
Michael J. Matheson
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Diplomatic Protection ◽  
International Liability ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Fragmentation Of International Law ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission

The International Law Commission (ILC) of the United Nations held its fifty-eighth session in Geneva from May 1 to June 9, and from July 3 to August 11, 2006. This was the final year of the Commission's most recent five-year term (or quinquennium), and it finished work on several topics by completing sets of draft articles on diplomatic protection, principles on international liability for transboundary harm, “guiding principles” on unilateral acts, and conclusions on fragmentation of international law. The Commission also completed its first reading of articles on transboundary aquifers; continued its work on reservations to treaties, responsibility of international organizations, and the effect of armed conflict on treaties; began its consideration of the obligation to extradite or prosecute and the expulsion of aliens; and added a variety of new topics to its long-term program.

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