Upreti, Trilochan, International Watercourses Law and Its Application ...

78 / International Watercourses Law and Its Application in South Asia Development and Codification of International Watercourses Law / 79justification of an existing use in specific circumstances.Consistent with the principle of equitable utilisation, states areprohibited from acting merely as they please or against theconditions embodied in Article X. 155 Article XI stipulates that ifArticle X is violated, then such responsible states mustnegotiate, and cease to conduct themselves in a wrongfulmanner and compensate the harmed state in case of any injuryalready incurred. Chapter 4 deals with navigation; Chapter 5with timber floating; Chapter 6 relates to procedures for theprevention and settlement of disputes; and Annex A containsModel Rules for the constitution of the conciliation commissionfor the settlement of dispute. In fact many elements of the ruleswere already state practices recognised by the internationalcommunity. The Helsinki rules are the foundation for therecently adopted UNCIW with most of the principles, e.g.,principle of equitable utilisation and no harm rule, inheritedfrom it. 156The magnitude of the problems in the Nile basin, Indus,Columbia and Great Lakes in North America and Jordan wasvery serious and posed a threat to peace and security. At theoutset of these disputes, the ILA had begun work on the law155 Article X, “(1) Consistent with the principle of equitable utilisation ofthe waters of an international drainage basin, a statea. must prevent any new form of water pollution or anyincrease in the degree of existing water pollution in aninternational drainage basin which would cause substantiallyinjury in the territory of a co-basin state, andb. should take all reasonable measures to abate existing waterpollution in an international drainage basin which to such anextent that no substantial damage is caused in the territory ofa co-basin state;(2) the rule stated in paragraph 1 of this article applies to waterpollution originating:a. within a territory of the state, orb. outside the territory of the state, if it is caused by the state'sconduct.”156 C B. Bourne, "The International Law Association 's Contribution toInternational Water Resources Law" (1996) in 36 NRJ, pp. 160-166.governing the utilisation of international waters in 1954. 157There was a demand for universally applicable rules with aholistic and integrated development approach from theinternational community. In such circumstances, a committeewas constituted under the chairmanship of Clyde Eagleton. Thecommittee, also known as the River Committee, submitted itsreport, which later was adopted by the ILA in Helsinki in 1966.The ILA took account of state practices around the globe,comments and observations of learned societies and thedecisions of courts and tribunals. These rules enacted by thecommittee are holistic, integrated and serve as universaljurisdiction rules. 158 Although the members of the committee orassociation did represent their nations, it was in their personalcapacity that the rules were formulated, not as governmentrepresentatives. There is a water resources committee under theILA that is still involved in developing and adopting theequitable rules of IWC. 159 Until now the Water ResourcesCommittee has been reviewing the 1966 Helsinki rules andseveral meetings of the ILA have taken place, e.g., London andNew Delhi conferences in 2000 and 2002, reviewing theprogress. The committee has reviewed general principles ofwater management and public participation, integrating theprinciples of IWL and sustainable development. Furthermore, ithas also been incorporating modern standards governingnavigation on international or transboundary water, reexaminingthe principles of water administration and resolvinginternational disputes related to IWC.In the context of separate drainage basins, each state hasdifferent views. It was obvious that addressing the divergentinterests and views through a single set of universal rules was157 Ibid. p 155.158 Ibid. pp 158-164.159 Presently the committee is involved in the codification and draftingprocess and recently they held a meeting about the amendment of 1966Helsinki Rules in Vienna. See www.ila-hq.org.