TY - JOUR
T1 - Legal pluralism and unofficial law in Lebanon
T2 - Evolution and sustainable development of water
AU - Gharios, Georges
PY - 2020/6/1
Y1 - 2020/6/1
N2 - In Lebanon, the organization of the water legislation dates back to as far as antiquity. While customs and habits used to govern water in the past, codified laws and their associated legal infrastructure are present nowadays, and cohabitate with persisting unofficial law. Mesopotamian, Roman, Ottoman, and French water laws were superimposed on Muslim customs and practices and traditional Arab social water arrangements in Lebanon, throughout a long history of conquests or mandates. Traditional customs and practices of water use that evolved into lore are still prevailing today, and go hand in hand with a palimpsest of water laws. Through a review of the co-evolution of thousands of years of written and unwritten water-related texts, the unique features of a hydro-palimpsest that combines formal and informal systems are put into value in an effort to explore their future potential in the sound and efficient management of water, in light of rapid global changes affecting the resource.
AB - In Lebanon, the organization of the water legislation dates back to as far as antiquity. While customs and habits used to govern water in the past, codified laws and their associated legal infrastructure are present nowadays, and cohabitate with persisting unofficial law. Mesopotamian, Roman, Ottoman, and French water laws were superimposed on Muslim customs and practices and traditional Arab social water arrangements in Lebanon, throughout a long history of conquests or mandates. Traditional customs and practices of water use that evolved into lore are still prevailing today, and go hand in hand with a palimpsest of water laws. Through a review of the co-evolution of thousands of years of written and unwritten water-related texts, the unique features of a hydro-palimpsest that combines formal and informal systems are put into value in an effort to explore their future potential in the sound and efficient management of water, in light of rapid global changes affecting the resource.
KW - Custom and practices
KW - Lebanon
KW - Legal pluralism
KW - Unofficial law
KW - Water law
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089572191&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2166/wp.2020.224
DO - 10.2166/wp.2020.224
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85089572191
VL - 22
SP - 348
EP - 364
JO - Water Policy : Official Journal of the World Water Council
JF - Water Policy : Official Journal of the World Water Council
SN - 1366-7017
IS - 3
ER -