Download This PaperUnmasking the Substance Behind the Process: Why the Duty to Cooperate in International Water Law is Really a Substantive Principle
47.1 Denver Journal of International Law and Policy 29 (2020)
20 Pages Posted: 6 Jan 2020 Last revised: 1 Jun 2020
Date Written: February 6, 2019
Abstract
This article argues that it is crucial that international water law treat the duty to cooperate as a substantive rule (as opposed to procedural), alongside the two traditional substantive principles of ‘no significant harm’ and ‘equitable and reasonable use’. The duty to cooperate imposes many general obligations on states, such as the obligation to notify, consult, and conduct an environmental impact assessment. I suggest that this duty should give rise to other specific cooperative obligations, such as to make every effort to enter into provisional arrangements until a final resolution of the dispute is reached and to not jeopardize or hamper such final resolution. I argue that such obligations will lead to better resolution of international fresh water disputes than the traditional substantive principles ‘no significant harm’ and ‘equitable and reasonable use’ on their own.
Keywords: international water law, duty to cooperate, substantive law, procedural law
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