Right to Water in Framework of European Court of Human Rights Judicial Precedent

The right to water is stated in the General Comment No. 15 adopted in 2002 by the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights; this Comment is the major document prepared to explain the legal fundamentals of this right and its relation to other economic and social rights. Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights also explicitly recognizes the right to water. As an environmental matter, the right to safe water entitles individuals to sufficient, physically accessible, and affordable water for personal and domestic uses. Since its establishment, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has played a key role in developing and promoting international rights. This descriptive-analytical paper intends to answer this question: What is the judicial precedent of ECHR about the right to water? Delving into several important cases on the right to water under investigation in ECHR, this paper concluded that an extensive and dynamic interpretation of Articles 6 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and human rights resolutions clearly shows that they explicitly recognize the human right to water. All states are obliged to ensure the realization of this right in a non-discriminatory manner.