Law Commons^™

A Hydrogeological Perspective Of The Status Of Ground Water Resources Under The Un Watercourse Convention, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

When the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses in 1997, it took a decisive step in recognizing the important role that transboundary ground water resources play in human progress and development. In so doing, it also acknowledged the need to establish principles of law governing this "invisible" but valuable natural resource. Transboundary ground water historically has been neglected in treaties, ignored in projects with international implications, and cursorily misunderstood in much of legal discourse.

While the Convention provides substantial clarification on the status of ground water under international law, it also leaves considerable …

Protecting A Hidden Treasure: The U.N. International Law Commission And The International Law Of Transboundary Ground Water Resources, Gabriel E. Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Ground water is the most extracted natural resource in the world. It provides more than half of humanity's freshwater for everyday uses such as drinking, cooking, and hygiene, as well as twenty percent of irrigated agriculture. Given the world's considerable reliance on this precious resource, it is reasonable to assume that international attention to, and especially legal consideration of, ground water would be substantial. Nothing is further from the truth. Despite the growing dependence, legal and regulatory attention to ground water resources have long been secondary to surface water, especially among legislatures and policymakers and above all in the international …

Public International Law: Environmental Law, Gilbert M. Bankobeza, Susan Biniaz, Clare Breidenich, Melanne Andromecca Civic, Gabriel E. Eckstein, David Favre, Paul E. Hagen, Teresa Hobgood, Karissa Taylor Kovner, Gregory F. Maggio, Howard Mann, Darlene A. Pearson, Margaret F. Spring, Katherine E. Mills, David W. Wagner, John Barlow Weiner

Faculty Scholarship

Noteworthy international activity relating to the environment occurred in a wide variety of fora in 2000. This chapter provides brief updates on some of the most significant developments. Though by no means a comprehensive review, the chapter reflects the wide sweep of issues and large number of entities now involved in the development of international environmental law, at the start of this new century. It also reflects how critical and complex this international work is, and how much remains to be done.

Of Solemn Oaths And Obligations: The Environmental Impact Of The Icj’S Decision In The Case Of The Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Project, Stephen Stec, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Chapter Extract:

The law of treaties often conjures up images of states as rotund gentlemen with whiskers, vests, and watch-chains proclaiming solemn and chivalric oaths upon their honour. Treaties are sacred in the same way that a man's word is his bond. This type of relationship among states is largely unquestioned since much of the way we live in the world depends upon the assumption of the inviolability of sovereign states and their treaties. Any challenge to these assumptions would surely evoke horror at the unmentionable void that would result-except in lawyers who make their livings shaving nuances. However, in …

Application Of International Water Law To Transboundary Groundwater Resources, And The Slovak-Hungarian Dispute Over Gabcikovo-Nagymaros, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

The growth in global population and economic development has resulted in tremendous pressures on existing sources of fresh water. Human water use over the past three centuries increased by a factor of thirty-five and is growing by four to eight percent annually. Coupled with recurring international disputes over water resources, poor water management, and the realization that water is an indispensable but finite resource, these trends have propelled the use and management of transboundary groundwater resources to the forefront of legal debate.

Until recently, matters relating to groundwater resources were relatively ignored in the context of international law applicable to …

Human Rights Environmentalism: Forging Common Ground, Gabriel Eckstein, Miriam Gitlin

Faculty Scholarship

Since the early 1970s, the international community has widely acknowledged the nexus between human rights and environmental protection. References to this association and even to a human right to some minimal quality of environment, can be found in numerous international instruments. The Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment, for example, proclaims that human beings have the "fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being." Similarly, the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights states that "everyone shall have the right to live …