Considerations concerning the human right to water and its recognition by the united nations general assembly (july 28, 2010) from the latinamerican perspective

MARTÍN, LIBER

Willamette Law Review

Willamette University College of Law

Lugar: Salem; Año: 2011 vol. Fall p. 1 - 10

0191-9822

The General Observation number 15 from the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committee recognized in 2002 the human right to water (HRW), specifying articless 11 and 12 from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Since then, an unprecedent national and international debate begun over its positive recognition, existence, contents and limits (Salman, McInerney-Lankford, 2004; Embid Irujo, 2006; Smets, 2006; Garcia 2008; Martín, 2008). This paper explores the key points of water as a human right from the Latin American point of view. This is because although the HRW is an universal right and it was recently recognized by large mayority of the UN General Assembly (2010), the problems with its articulation, content and implementation vary according to legal and political context, making necesary comparative law studies. Among other legal premises, the paper states that HRW has been recognized by law first as a common use of water, then as a public service and finally as a human right. Nowadays, all these different conceptions are part of a complex regulation that must be integrated to current concrete water law institutions (existing rights, priority orders in water allocations, etc). Furthermore, the paper highlights that HRW is not only a legal matter or a water availability issue but an economic problem and therefore a main problem of poor countries or regions.