The Consolidation of international Water Law. A Comparative analysis of the UN and UNECE Water Conventions

The present analysis will consider first the basic principles of the international water law discourse as consolidated by the two Conventions, and then their respective scope ratione materiae and ratione personae. The ensuing assessments will be made within the framework of both treaty and customary law with a view to maximizing the practical guideline function of the two instruments for the conduct of co-riparian States in their mutual relations, and in relation to a transboundary watercourse. Such a function is dual in nature: the regulatory framework of the two Conventions requires both the adoption of domestic legislative and administrative measures on the use, protection and conservation of watercourses, and the negotiation of new watercourse agreements with a view to further cooperation on specific international watercourses.