INTERNATIONAL REGULATION OF THE USE AND PROTECTION OF INTERNATIONAL WATER COURSES

Abstract

The importance of international watercourses derives from their multiple role for interested states (two or more states), because there are numerous ways in which watercourse waters are used: for drinking, for household use, for navigation, as a source of electricity production, in industry, in agriculture, etc. International watercourses limit state sovereignty, in such a way that all interested states are obliged to respect the right of other riparian states to unhindered use of the water of the common watercourse. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to present the fundamental principles of management and protection of international watercourses. The paper tries to show how much has been done so far, both on the regional level and more widely, on the codification of rules in the field of protection of international watercourses, in such a way that some more important international legal acts that regulate the fair and sustainable use and protection of watercourses in which two or more countries are interested.