McIntyre, Owen --- "Responsibility and liability in international law for damage to transboundary fresh water resources" [2018] ELECD 1248; in Tignino, Mara; Bréthaut, Christian (eds), "Research Handbook on Freshwater Law and International Relations" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 335

Book Title: Research Handbook on Freshwater Law and International Relations

Editor(s): Tignino, Mara; Bréthaut, Christian

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781785360640

Section: Chapter 14

Section Title: Responsibility and liability in international law for damage to transboundary fresh water resources

Author(s): McIntyre, Owen

Number of pages: 31

Abstract/Description:

Despite the obvious potential for one watercourse State to cause significant harm to the environment or broader interests of another, formal imposition or acceptance of legal responsibility and liability are rare. This may be due in part to the fact that primary rules of international water law are somewhat normatively indeterminate, while secondary rules of international law on State responsibility and liability, long under development by the International Law Commission, remain inchoate and confused. In response, States may seek to employ other means for resolving transboundary water disputes, including negotiation of ad hoc resolution arrangements or referral to compliance mechanisms associated with international water resources agreements or multilateral environmental agreements. States have also sought establishment of specialized treaty-based regimes of civil liability for hazardous activities, though it is not clear that such regimes can function effectively to ensure compliance with international obligations, compensate for harm, and reinstate the natural environment.