The human rights to water and sanitation in courts worldwide: a selection of national, regional, and international case law, WaterLex, 2014, ISBN: 978-2-940526-00-0

Abstract

This publication is the first attempt to compile decisions of judicial and quasi-judicial bodies on the rights to water and sanitation both at the regional and national levels, from different parts of the world. It is timely because strong regulatory and institutional frameworks have become paramount for tackling the widespread inequities in the distribution of access to water and sanitation. The publication is divided into three main sections: the thematic guide, Part 1 focusing on national jurisdictions, and Part 2 focusing on regional jurisdictions. The thematic guide section lists the five human rights principles that are essential to the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation, namely non-discrimination and equality, access to information, participation, accountability, and sustainability. It also lists the normative content of the rights to water and sanitation including availability, physical accessibility, acceptability, affordability, quality, and safety. This thematic guide is the basis for the classification of all the cases that are summarised in the publication. Furthermore, it enables the reader to easily identify other related cases on the same topic. In line with the focus of the publication on both water and sanitation, the availability and acceptability criteria listed in the thematic guide are analysed for water and sanitation, respectively, in separate paragraphs. Part 1 consists of 65 decided cases from 28 national courts in Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. The cases show instances of the recognition of the rights to water and sanitation based on international consensus, constitutional recognition of the rights to water