Not only is water essential for human life and health, it is also a strategic resource of the 21st century. Recently its quantity and quality have been threatened by a growing population, climate change and increasing economic pressures. Therefore, human right to drinking water has been developed in International law, which entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water without discrimination. Fearing that European Union will allow foreign corporations to manage national water resources, Slovenian lawmakers were urged to explicitly protect water resources and access to drinking water at the constitutional level. Although, their protection was already ensured through several constitutional provisions.
In November 2016 Slovenia has become one of the few countries that explicitly recognized the right to drinking water in its Constitution. The master's thesis analyzes new Article 70.a. In doing so, it observes that the main purpose of the new constitutional provision was to prohibit the privatization of water resources and water supply services at the constitutional level, while key aspects of the right to drinking water remained unanswered. Additionally, since it strongly interferes with the existing legal system, its realization requires further harmonization of legislation. However, despite the initial zeal, this has not yet been achieved. In its final part, the thesis concludes that the new legal framework should especially provide protection for the economically and socially weakest members of society and enact moderation, to ensure that clean drinking water is available to future generations.
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