17 - Principles and precedents in international law governing the sharing of Nile waters

Summary

Introduction

The provisions and principles of international law, governing the utilization of the waters of international rivers, developed relatively recently, since the problems involving international rivers were primarily those concerning international navigation. The 1815 Vienna Congress ushered in the principle of the freedom of navigation in international rivers, the first such instance being in relation to the Danube.

The more recent application of scientific methods to the utilization of the waters of international rivers, the new trend towards the construction of dams, reservoirs, canals and the like, have shown that the problem of the proper utilization of the waters of international rivers is no less important than the problem of navigation; hence the increasing need for the formulation of precise rules governing the new problem.

As an international river, the Nile is naturally governed by the rules of international law on the administration and the uses of the waters of international rivers. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the prevalent principle governing the uses of the waters of international rivers, i.e the Harmon doctrine, inferred that the absolute sovereignty of a state over its territory permitted that state a free hand in the exercise of its sovereignty over that portion of the international river which passed through its territory, without due consideration to the possible damage which this freedom might cause to the interests of other riparians. This doctrine held sway over the first part of the nineteenth century.