Abstract

SUTORIUS, Mies  and  RODRIGUEZ, Sonia. The fundamentality of the right to water in Colombia. Rev. Derecho Estado [online]. 2015, n.35, pp.243-265. ISSN 0122-9893.  https://doi.org/10.18601/01229893.n35.09.

Water is a finite natural resource of vital importance for the human being, which explains that over time it has been increasingly protected, not only by the international community but also by the Colombian legal system. In view of this fact, it is intended to review legislation and particularly case-law in which the evolution of the right to water, its nuances and various forms of protection concerning the right to water in Colombia will become clear. It is the personal dimension of the right to water that will be explored in depth. In the Colombian Constitution the right to water in its personal dimension is not stated as an individual right, reason for which constitutional case-law will be examined, selecting several judgments concerning subjects that enjoy special constitutional protection. In the recognition of these subjects, Colombian constitutional case-law has protected the right to water in particular situations including the protection of the right to water despite individual debts or defaults to the company providing the public service, fraudulent connections as well as illegal reconnections, which contributes to the understanding of the right to water for the rest of the population. Two tendencies can be identified concerning the right to water, as it has evolved from being guaranteed only by the so-called "Connection theory" (the right to water related to other fundamental rights) to being designated as an autonomous fundamental righ trestricted to the minimum amount necessary to survive.

Keywords : Right to water; international law-national law; international human rights law; fundamental rights; international instrument; case-law; constitutional law; Colombia.

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