The Arbitral Tribunal as an alternative legal instrument for solving water conflicts in Brazil

Abstract

Historically water has been and remains a key factor for our development. The State, through its Judicial Power, assuming the environment custody, has released several legal measures for its protection and repair. However, due to the overflowed system, the absence of public policies and the time consuming nature of the judicial process, such actions are ineffective or insufficient in the face of daily needs. It is imperative that the Judiciary adopt alternative work methods, aiming its relief and greater effectiveness in terms of emergency, preventive and reparatory guardianship. We encounter in National Water Resources Policy in Article 38, II, an agreement for Basins Committees to use arbitration in administrative channels on water conflicts. Thus, the creation of a Water Arbitration Tribunal, with extrajudicial action parallel with indicated judicial measures, would effectively contribute to the prevention/minimization of environmental damage and the consequent indiscriminate viable access to the natural resource.