Water: Human Right or Commodity? Reflections on the Effectiveness of a Human Right to Water
- Authors
- Publication Date
- Sep 06, 2011
- Source
- HAL-UPMC
- Keywords
- Language
- English
- License
- Unknown
- External links
Abstract
If water may be designated as both a human right and a commodity, what consequences will that entail for the effectiveness of the human right to water? In other words, to what extent may we consider international economic law as an obstacle to the effectiveness of the right to water? On the other hand, could international economic law also be a means to fulfill that right? In order to obtain some answers, we will first address the issue of the applicability of international trade law to water and explain how its system of exceptions/derogations fails to sufficiently integrate human rights. As a result, we will find that international trade law appears to hinder the effectiveness of the right to water. Then, we will balance this finding by explaining how international trade law may also be a vector towards the effectiveness of the right to water, as recognized by international human rights law.
