“An Investigation of the Human Right to Water in ICSID Caselaw”

Privatization of mother industries has been a focal issue in investment disputes in the last few decades. Thus far, there have been five major investment arbitrations regarding privatization of water industry in all of which the human right to water has been invoked by the host states or NGOs. At present, there are no binding human rights instruments that recognize the right to access water as an independent human right. The Committee of Social and Economic Rights goes so far as to infer the existence of this right from other human rights such as the right to food, the right to health and the right to housing. This article traces the human right to water from its birthplace, human rights law, to ICSID arbitration.