L’entrée en vigueur de la Convention sur le droit relatif à l'utilisation des cours d’eau internationaux à des fins autres que la navigation

Abstract

The entry into force of the UN Convention on the Law of Non-Navigation Uses of International Watercourses. The entry into force, on 17 the August 2014, of the UN Convention on the Law of Non-Navigation Uses of International Watercourses, is an important step in the development of the " international law of water resources", as it contributes to the reinforcement of the international legal regime of this resource. The legal effects of that entry into force can be measured, first of all, throughout the codification of the general rules of the international watercourses. Not only it strengthens the existing customary rules of the Convention, but it also makes the latter an instrument of positive international law, henceforth applicable to all the States Parties, and as a framework Convention, a source of inspiration for third Party States. Secondly, the legal impact of the entry into force of the 1997 Convention can be assessed in regard of existing Convention and agreements on watercourses. Clearly, it appears that this Convention does not contradict the 1992 Helsinki Convention which is focused on the protection of the environment of water resources, unlike the 1997 UN Convention which deals with the management of these resources. An analysis of both Conventions shows that they are not really in competition, rather are they complementary to each other. Finally, a cross analysis of the 1997 Convention, with the case-laws of the ICJ, and the Declaration of Principles on the construction of the " Grand Renaissance Dam" by Ethiopia on the Nil River, signed in Khartum on March 25th of 2015 by Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, gives the sense that most rules of the 1997 UN Convention, entered into force in 2014, have largely inspired that agreement, but also crystalize customary rules of international watercourses.