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The concept of international watercourse has been used in many international conventions referring to a river and its tributaries and related canals crossing two or more countries. The notable ones include the Mekong River which crosses five states in the East Asia region and the Danube and Rhine rivers which cross 12 states in Europe. This article addresses relevant international principle which will justify the claims and counter-claims on non-navigational use of international watercourses. It justifies the conflicting parties’ demands on shared watercourses. Accordingly, this paper adopts the qualitative doctrinal analysis of the principle of reasonable and equitable utilization under the United Nations Convention on the International Watercourses (UNWC) 1997. Relevant provisions will be analysed and harnessed in addressing the respective conflict and weighing each argument of the conflicting parties. It is hoped that the utilisation of the available legal recourses will help strengthen the existing legal framework in solving conflict over non-navigational use of international watercourses.

The world has relied on fossil fuel energy for a long time, producing many adverse effects. Long-term fossil fuel dependency has increased carbon emissions and accelerated climate change. In addition, fossil fuels are also depleting and will soon be very costly. Moreover, the expensive national electricity grid has yet to reach rural areas and will be cut off in inundation areas. As such, alternative and carbon-free hydrogen fuel cell energy is highly recommended as it solves these problems. The reviews find that (i) compared to renewable energy such as solar, biomass, and hydropower, a fuel cell does not require expensive transmission through an energy grid and is carbon-free, and hence, it is a faster agent to decelerate climate change; (ii) fuel cell technologies have reached an optimum level due to the high-efficiency production of energy, and they are environmentally friendly; (iii) the absence of a policy on hydrogen fuel cells will hinder investment from private companies as they are not adequately regulated. It is thus recommended that countries embarking on hydrogen fuel cell development have a specific policy in place to allow the government to fund and regulate hydrogen fuel cells in the energy generation mix. This is essential as it provides the basis for alternative energy governance, development, and management of a country.

Countries globally have enjoyed unprecedented economic growth in the present times, even though this economic growth has its consequence on the environment and public health. This development has seen the unrestricted cutting down of forests, waste generation, extinction of species, etc. Addressing these predicaments, the United Nations, at the global level, has urged States to develop and enforce environmental legislation, policies, and strategies. As a member of the United Nations, Sierra Leone has promulgated several environmental legislations and policies to address and regulate environmental matters. Besides developing these laws, Sierra Leone has historically witnessed massive environmental degradation, ranging from illegal and reckless cutting down of forests, waste generation, illegal dumping, and more. To this, add the extreme lack of awareness and education. Based on library research, this paper discusses the relevant environmental laws in Sierra Leone and other specific international laws and argues that despite the ongoing environmental degradation in Sierra Leone with the inadequacies in the legal framework, Environmental awareness and Public Participation will play a significant role in mitigating environmental degradation in Sierra Leone.

FRIM campus is located in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was established in 1985 recognized as National Heritage Site in 2012. FRIM?s area is estimated 544.3 hectare to be considered as the largest man-made tropical forest and the oldest in the world and has the objective to achieve the recognition of the UNESCO World Heritage Site by 2020. FRIM has the world?s oldest exotic tree species serving as a research center for forestry, biodiversity conservation and forest resources, and tropical forests. Therefore, FRIM?s legacy status needs to be maintained with good management in accordance with the established law. Some legislations such as the Malaysian Forest Research Institute Act 2016 [Act 782], National Heritage Act 2005 [Act 645], National Forestry Act 1984 [Act 313], National Land Code, Land Acquisition Act 1960 [Act 486] and the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 [Act 172] will be discussed to review the effectiveness of law protection against FRIM as a heritage forest. The methodology of this study will use library study approaches and interviews with related respondents. The study found that FRIM?s forest site was not covered under several relevant Acts as there is no such gazette was registered in accordance with the provisions of the Act. Therefore, legal protection under existing legislation is less effective. The study suggests that FRIM to be gazetted as a permanent reserved forest based on its own function and as a river reserve capable of protecting FRIM?s forest status from developmental threats.

The right to water has passed through many steps until it has received a full legal adoption in the international human rights law and international water law. However, there are many parties which feel that the right to water should not stand on its own as it complicates the present legal framework for international human rights. This paper examined, based on qualitative research approach, several impediments in legislating water as a human right within the purview of relevant international human rights conventions, taking into account the United Nations (UN) Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development Goals No. 3: Good Health and Well-being and Goal No. 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. The study indicates that human rights notions have been gaining influential rule in international water law, notably human right to water, which has been recognized by the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council (HRC). This study however concludes that despite efforts to deny the legal basis of the right to water as one of the soft law, this right remains as a basic human right and should be respected by all countries.

River degradation and loss of ecosystem services due to pollution and deforestation poses a great challenge for a holistic and sustainable river basin management. In Malaysia, about two third of its rivers are categorized as slightly polluted or polluted and this has led to the loss of ecosystem services in many of its river basins, notably in the rapidly developed Langat River Basin. The general historic legal responses to pollution control like water quality standards and gazettal of protected areas seems to rectify the problem as it occurs but is unsustainable. In other parts of the world, there has been a rise in alternative framings of river basin management like the Ecosystem Services Approach (ESA), integrated river basin management (IRBM), catchment based and stakeholder led river management; and these are seen as one way forward for sustainable basin management. The aim of this paper is to explore whether such framings can be implemented in Malaysia based on the current legal and federalism framework. It identifies the major causes and drivers of the polluted and poor state of Langat River and its tributaries and how might an alternative approach improve the situation. Towards this end, a comparative analysis is made with the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and its implementation in the Tweed UNESCO HELP basin. Particularly, it explores the application of the subsidiarity principle that allows decision making to be made by agencies closest to the problem within the basin. It concludes that redefining the role of levels of government in IRBM and stakeholder engagement can speed up the process of reframing the Langat IRBM to reduce river pollution and enhance the ecosystem services of the basin.

Iraq is home to many of the large archaeological sites of the world like Babylon Ashur, Nineveh, Nimrud, and Samarra. Due to the great quantity and quality of Iraq?s cultural resources, it is known as one of the great source countries for international antiquities market and is inherently at risk of looting and pillage of its vast cultural property resources. There are three international agreements on the protection of cultural property whereby Iraq is a party; the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illegal Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illicitly Exported Cultural Property. However, after the U.S occupation in 2003, Iraq has become very unstable and has given way to uncontrolled looting and illegal trade of antiquities, despite the existence of international conventions and Iraqi laws on this matter. This study aims to analyse the legal protection for antiquities, in accordance with international and domestic laws and to recommend legal improvement on this matter. Towards these ends, this study employs the traditional legal method through document analysis. The study concluded that the conventions to safeguard cultural property are inadequate to deal with the situation in Iraq due to lack of commitment from the United States and the United Kingdom to be part of these conventions and make serious efforts to safeguard cultural property in Iraq.

Two national parks in Malaysia have been recognized by the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World‟s Cultural and Natural Heritage as the world heritage sites; the Gunung Mulu National Park and Kinabalu Park. None of the forest in Peninsular Malaysia has achieved that status but four have made it through the nomination list. The Malaysian government‟s recent initiative was to list three reserved areas, namely the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), the Royal Belum National Park and the Gombak Selangor Quartz Ridge. The nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage Site is indeed a good move in protecting the Malaysian forest. Even though there is no direct mention of „forest‟ stated under the Convention, it tacitly indicates the importance of the conservation of natural forest habitat for flora and fauna and a heritage for humankind. An outstanding forest site shall be conferred a world heritage status when it possesses at least one of the criteria of an Outstanding Universal Value or OUV. Ten criteria are listed as OUV in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention and it is divided as a cultural or natural heritage. This paper explores on the OUV of Malaysian forests, either included in or nominated to the World Heritage List. It describes the different OUV opted by different forest and that exemplifies the diversity and uniqueness of Malaysian forest.

Ekspresi budaya tradisional Indonesia merupakan warisan Indonesia yang tidak ternilai dan menjadi identiti kebangsaan. Namun begitu, terdapat pihak yang cuba untuk mempergunakan ekspresi budaya tradisional Indonesia ini sebagai hasil pendapatan mereka dan mempatenkan ekspresi budaya tradisional ini sehingga menyebabkan masyarakat tradisional Indonesia sendiri tidak boleh menggunakan ekpresi budaya tradisional ini. Maka dengan itu dalam penyelidikan ini melihat usaha yang dilakukan oleh kerajaan Indonesia untuk mempertahankan ekspresi budaya tradisional. Antara usaha yang dilakukan adalah Rang Undang-undang Pengetahuan Tradisional dan Ekpresi Budaya Tradisional yang akan dibentang dan digubal untuk melindungi ekspresi budaya tradisional di Indonesia.

Malaysia is endowed withabundant forest resources that covers about 59.5% of total land area. For most part of Malaysia’s economy, much importance is placed on the contribution of forest in agronomy development. Due to apparent large scale land clearing that brought grave consequences to the environment, various initiatives to protect forests from misuse, abuse and overexploitation of forest resources, mainly by plantation companies, were implemented. The attribution of haze caused by burning of forests further pushed for appropriate policies and laws to protect atmospheric quality in Malaysia. Local laws on preventing deforestation and haze are mainly provided in the Environmental Quality Act 1974 and National Forestry Act 1984. Efforts to resolve issues of deforestation and its environmental impacts on air quality should re-emphasize the benefits of practicing Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) to limit environmental impacts of forest activities through continuous participation and commitment from stakeholders, such as the plantation companies. The penalties for deforestation offences in current Malaysian laws whilst it is punitive, should be improved by imposing an environmental tax on polluter companies as a corrective and rehabilitative tool, thus affirming the ‘polluter pays principle’. Environmental tax law could be utilized, for example, in restoring the affected forest area to its natural and original state. The categories of persons contributing to the Environmental Fund should be reviewed to address impacts from deforestation and haze. The study attempts to enhance and strengthen the role of companies in their corporate legal responsibilities towards deforestation and haze issues in Malaysia.

Malaysia aims to be a developed state by 2020. Various programs and policies towards this have been promulgated and development is rapidly arising as a result. Nevertheless, there is a vital need to balance development and sustainability of water resources in Malaysia. This is important as water demand is steadily increasing in the country's industrialized and highly populated cities. It is significant that water resources be managed efficiently and water conservation efforts such as rainwater harvesting be promoted across the country. This paper aims to examine development policies that may affect the sustainability of water resources and their implementation from the legal point of view. This doctrinal study involves analyses of related laws and development policies and their impact over the development process. The paper concludes that, although important laws and policies have been introduced, implementation has been hindered by lack of support from stakeholders and lack of integration between water agencies.

Integrated Langat River Basin Management lacks appropriate leadership of appropriate agency due to the conflict among jurisdictions since Langat River drains through three different constituency. Meanwhile, pollution of the river and frequent shutdown incidents of water treatment plants in the basin are evident due to both point and non-point sources of pollutions. Moreover, the statistically significant trend of annual rainfall (2005-2016) and temperature (2005-2016) in the basin clearly indicates the impact of climate change because of uncertain rainfall and temperature patterns. Flood incidents (2004-2016) within the basin in comparison with the rainfall and temperature also indicate short duration heavy rainfall at local level to enhance the pollution of the river. Contrary, the review of literature and informal interviews with the public, private and civil sectors highlight the attitude problem of the stakeholders along lack of leadership of LUAS in managing the river and drinking water in the basin. Therefore, the ‘proactive’ leadership of Local Authority under the Local Government Act 1976 could be successful to coordinate with stakeholders through multi stakeholders’ platform and several stages of quality control and quality assurance to manage water resources. The study suggests a new Langat Basin Management Authority under the Local Authority leadership as well as a Two-Layer water filtration technology in basin management. Henceforth, implementing the recommendations will facilitate Malaysia to achieve SDGs 2030 and National Transformation 2050 within the stipulated timeframe.

Ecohydrology focuses on ecological processes within the hydrological cycle. It works under the assumption that an anthropogenically modified catchment or river basin can reverse environmental degradation and enhance the ecosystem service through improved climate cycle, controls erosion, soil formation, water purification, waste treatment and food production. Improved ecosystem services within the hydrological cycle can also serves human’s cultural and spiritual aspect as well as in the production of scientific knowledge. There has been call for countries to regulate the use of ecosystem as they are being degraded faster than they can recover. In 2001, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) initiated the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) to assess the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. It finds that 60% of 24 ecosystem services examined such as clean water, food, forest products, flood control and provision of natural resources has been badly degraded due to unsustainable development. It is submitted that law can play a role in ensuring preservation of a healthy ecohydrology as a tool used by respective authorities to achieve sustainable development and prevent excessive use of natural resources. This requires a new philosophy on the role of law in ecohydrological protection since environmental legislations fail to punish human activities that had either directly or indirectly disrupt the normal hydrological cycle. An analysis on earth jurisprudence, environmental ethics, equity and justice may elucidate the need to preserve a heathy ecohydrology as its own and other human’s right.

Federalism refers to an agreement between several states which agree to be united as a nation state but with shared administrative responsibility. Under the dual federalism theory, the federal and the state governments are co-equals with specific powers granted by the constitution. In contrast, cooperative federalism denotes that although the federal government is supreme over the states, both acts cooperatively to solve common problem. Malaysia practices dual federalism as legislative powers of the federal and state governments are separated in the Federal Constitution. Rather than fostering cooperation, dual federalism in Malaysia has created tension between different levels of governments in the water sector as highlighted in the Selangor water woes. This paper evaluates issues arising in the Malaysian water sector from the federalism perspectives. Towards this end, doctrinal analysis on relevant laws and commentaries are made to appreciate the meaning of federalism and different approaches towards federalism. The paper concludes that different approaches towards federal-state relation can assist in improving the water sector and solve water conflict between different levels of governments in Malaysia.

The two-wave flood incident in Malaysia in 2006 has raised concerns over the economical, sociological and psychological impact on the victims. Nevertheless, many do not realize that the tragedy has been exacerbated due to the current structure of water resource management system in the country. This paper discusses the complexities of the present legal framework with regard to water resource management in Malaysia. An examination has been made to the current Federal Constitution as well as the Federal legislations. The study proves that the problem related to water resource management in Malaysia is partly due to the unclear division of power between the Federal and the State Governments and the fragmented legislation on Malaysian water. As a developing nation, Malaysia has been experiencing rapid urbanization and development. High-rise commercial buildings have become common and the number of housing estates is rising at an unimaginable rate. These developments do come with some prices. Many of its tropical rainforests, which act as its natural storm water preservation, have been cleared to make way for development. Most of the flood storage has been reduced due to developments extending into and taking over flood plains and the drainage corridor. As a result, many cities in Malaysia like its capital Kuala Lumpur and cities in industralized states like Selangor, Penang and Johore often experience occasional flooding. Although the global change in climate may have contributed to the situation, the inefficient water resource management in the country does play some part in it. This paper aims to look at the existing legal framework of water resource management in the country and identifies problems that may hinder improvement in its water resource management. THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 2 IN MALAYSIA Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories. The Federal Constitution clearly indicates that water is a state matter, and this includes rivers, lakes, streams and groundwater. This, however, is not exclusive as under the Federal List of the Constitution, the Federal Government has power over certain water-based projects in the state, such as hydropower generation, navigation within ports, marine fisheries and mining. In addition, drainage and irrigation has been stipulated under the Concurrent List, and hence fall under the jurisdiction of both Federal and State Governments. Under Article 76 of the Constitution, the Federal Government has the power to enact any law under the State List for the purpose of achieving uniformity, in compliance with an international treaty, or simply at the request of the state. Nevertheless, these regulations will not be effective unless the State Legislature approves them (1). The Federal Constitution has recently been amended in 2005 to delete the item 'water supply and services' from the State List and insert it in the Concurrent List. This will enable the Federal Govern- ment's involvement in the water services sector and to establish a regulated water services industry. Prior to the amendment, State Governments have established different types of water supply organizations, some fully privatized and some for operation and maintenance. Since privatization

Sustainability means capable of being sustained. The term sustainable development is introduced under this concept to ensure that rapid development takes place in harmony with nature; and natural resources such as forest and water resources can be sustained for future users. Within the legal fraternity, the word ‘sustainability’ has seeped into the legal discourses as to whether it can be regarded as a legal principle which can be used and argued upon in the court of law. This chapter highlights on prospect and challenges of establishing environmental sustainability as a valid legal principle. It focuses on the concept of environmental jurisprudence and how environmental sustainability can be regarded as a human right or a right to life under a country’s constitution. The paper concludes that this can be done through judicial activism and by relaxing the doctrine of legal standing.