NjUJORŠKA KONVENCIJA O PRAVU NEPLOVIDBENIH KORIŠĆENjA MEĐUNARODNIH VODOTOKOVA I REPUBLIKA SRBIJA: MOGUĆNOSTI I POTREBA RATIFIKACIJE

TODIĆ prof. dr Dragoljub (Institut za međunarodnu politiku i privredu, Beograd), d.todic@diplomacy.bg.ac.rs

The author considers the question of the possibility and the need of the Republic of Serbia to ratify the New York Convention on the Law of The Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, 1997 (New York Convention). The paper starts with the general framework of the international legal regulation of water management and refers to the historical development of the rules of international water law. It provides an overview on the Helsinki rules and other international agreements in the field of water management of regional character, among which are several major international treaties of direct relevance to RS (Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, Convention on Cooperation for the Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube River, Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin, etc.).The second part gives an overview of the objectives of the New York Convention and the basic rights and obligations arising from this international treaty. In particular it highlights the elements which show that the New York Conventions, in pertinent part, is the codification of modern rules of international water law and an attempt of certain elaboration of some of the rules. The part that relates to the issue of possibilities and need for the ratification of this international treaty suggests several factors that determine the position of the Republic of Serbia. These are: the state of water resources and their importance for RS, the state of the national legislation in the field of water resources management, European integration as a determinant of national policy in the field of water resources, and the importance of the process of harmonization of national legislation in the field of water resources management with EU regulations, the question of the membership of the EU Member States in the New York Convention, the status of the RS in other international agreements in the field of water management areas of relevance to the matter that is the subject matter of the New York Convention, as well as the rules of procedure of ratification (“approval”) of international treaties in the Republic of Serbia. The concluding part of the paper summarizes the possible reasons “for” and “against” the ratification of this international agreement. The author estimates that it would be useful for the RS to review the possibility of ratification of this international treaty.

Keywords: New York Convention, the status of the Republic of Serbia, non navigational use, management of water resources, the Republic of Serbia regulations, European integrations, ratification (approval)