The Fundamentals


The Latin-American Water Tribunal’s etchical and juridical Fundamentals

The TLA is an instance of alternative jurisprudence that aims to analyze and to search for solutions in view of the growing number of water conflicts in Latin America. Given its ethical-legal and scientific-technological nature, the TLA reformulates the sense of law and acts in the face of the prevailing legal crisis to resolve water related conflicts in Latin America. It thus becomes an alternative to the analysis and search for effective solutions in conflicts related to hydro-sustainability and access to water. The essence of the tribunal is to promote the application of implicit substantial ethics in international norms and principles for water sustainability. Unfortunately, the norms and principals of international treaties are generally not considered as binding or reinforced. Achieving the latter would be one of the major objectives of the TLA. Ultimately, it pursues the application of a global and international morale on which the sustainability and conservation of the planet´s eco- and water systems are truly depending.  

 Background

Similar models of alternative jurisprudence have been applied previously, including the Rotterdam Tribunal (1983) – that presented cases like the contamination of the Rhine basin -, the Amsterdam Tribunal (1992), that presented cases of water contamination from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania -, and the National Water Tribunal of Florianópolis, Brazil (1993)- that focused on contaminated water cases in the Brazilian territory. 

Exigent Ethics

To exercise its functions, the Latin American Water Tribunal departs from the concept of exigent ethics, which is understood as a mandatory environmental morale, on which the protection of life on the planet is depending. Its actions are based on scientific-technological analysis of presented evidence followed by a due process of judging and the formulation of decisions that are funded on ethical-legal criteria. These criteria include the application of ecological values. The TLA thus brings into practice an alternative research method enhancing the application of jurisprudence that is constructed on the basis of systems analysis, eco-centric principles, indicator based evidence, inversed evidence load, and the precautionary principle.

Etics Fundamentals (Spanish only)

Tribunales Éticos (Spanish only)