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The completion of the preparatory work for the UN Convention on the Law of International Watercourses
Author(s) -
Tanzi Attila
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
natural resources forum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.646
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1477-8947
pISSN - 0165-0203
DOI - 10.1111/j.1477-8947.1997.tb00698.x
Subject(s) - convention , law , delegation , settlement (finance) , political science , general assembly , negotiation , work (physics) , normative , international law , government (linguistics) , presentation (obstetrics) , sociology , business , engineering , mechanical engineering , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , finance , payment , radiology
This article deals with the debate of the UN General Assembly on the establishment of a framework convention on the Law of the Non‐Navigational Uses of International Watercourses. The debate took place in two sessions, held in October 1996 and March/April 1997, with the final voting and adoption of the Convention on 21 May 1997. The present article concentrates on the second part of the negotiations and the finalization of the text. Salient aspects are analyzed, such as the normative function of the Convention, the two important principles of “equitable utilization” and the “no‐harm rule”, as well as peaceful settlement of disputes. The preparatory work concerning these provisions is examined, and some general consideration is given to the results achieved. The present article is a sequel to the account by the same author, published in NRF 21:2, which deals with the first part of the debate and outlines the main legal and political issues at stake. The original text of the ILC articles is also included in the Special Issue on Transboundary Waters. Although the author was a member of the Italian Delegation to the Working Group, the opinions expressed in the present article are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Italian Government. The author apologizes for any inaccuracies in the presentation of the views of other delegations in this article.