Citizen’s Rights to Water: A Comparative Study between Iraqi Law and International Conventions

Every human being has the right to have access to an adequate, safe and acceptable quantity of water. Providing an adequate quantity of safe water is necessary to prevent death due to fluid loss from the human body, and to reduce the risk of contracting waterborne diseases. The law regulates a number of rights arising from the realization of the right to water. A sufficient standard of living, which cannot be dispensed with for the realization of that right, including what meets their needs of food, clothing and shelter. Hence, the research question arises: What are the rights of citizens to water in Iraqi law and in international conventions? In order to answer this question, the comparative analytical descriptive approach was followed to the opinions of the jurists and the judicial rulings, which ends with proving that the Iraqi constitution has taken the legal protection of water in the 2005 constitution, just as Islam has clarified in many references to the importance of the right to water in the Holy Qur’an and in the hadiths of the people of the house and the Sunnah of the Prophet honorable.The importance of the topic is evident as it is related to the main topic on which the sustainability of life depends, and therefore the right to water as a new social right, as a social right, members of society can claim their right to water, and therefore those authorities must secure this right. As a collective right, the political authorities that legitimately represent their citizens in a region of the world may claim their right to water within the international legal system. Naturally, on the other hand.Of course, the right to water falls within the category of basic guarantees to secure an adequate standard of living, given that it is one of the most basic conditions for survival. Moreover, since access to water is a human right contained in the texts of the constitutional document, just as the right to water is an inseparable right. Concerning the right to the highest attainable standard of physical health, and this right should be viewed in conjunction with other rights embodied in the International Bill of Human Rights, the most important of which are the right to life and human dignity, The results of the research on the issue of legal protection of the right to water are manifested by highlighting the statement of the right to water as a fundamental right enshrined in law.And to determine the international legal regulation of the issue of the right to water and whether it is the focus of attention in international treaties and organizations, and whether there is complementarity between international law and internal laws in this field, defining the constitutional framework for the protection of the right to water, referring to the position of the constitutional texts on this issue and indicating the extent of legal regulation within the framework of Sharia Islamic School and Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them).