A/HRC/36/45/Add.1 water and sanitation. Portugal thereby affirmed that the right to an adequate standard of living includes the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. 10. At the regional level, Portugal ratified the European Social Charter in 1991 and the Revised European Social Charter in 2002. Additionally, Portugal has ratified several international treaties relating to water and sanitation, including the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, in 1994, and the Protocol on Water and Health, in 2006. As a State party to the Protocol on Water and Health, Portugal has the obligation to ensure access to water and sanitation to all and to promote equitable access to water and sanitation for all members of the population, especially those who are disadvantaged or socially excluded. 11. According to the Portuguese Constitution, the rules and principles of international law form an integral part of Portuguese law. The provisions set out in ratified international agreements must come into force in Portuguese domestic law (art. 8) and the provisions of the Constitution and of laws concerning fundamental rights must be interpreted and construed in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 16). 2. Constitutional and national law 12. Portugal does not explicitly recognize the rights to water and sanitation in its Constitution. However, the rights to water and sanitation are protected through other rights and principles, such as the principle of equality (art. 13), the principle of universality (art. 12), the right to housing, which includes the requirement for hygienic and comfortable conditions and for the preservation of personal and family privacy (art. 65), and the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced human living environment (art. 66). Furthermore, article 81 stipulates the State’s primary duty “to adopt a national water policy, with rational use, planning and management of water resources”. 13. Additionally, Portugal has in place legislation that transposes certain aspects of the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. 8 The Framework Environment Act (Law No. 19/2014) recognizes water as a fundamental right and notes that “the protection and management of water resources also aims to safeguard the human right to safe drinking water established by the United Nations, as well as universal access to sanitation, which is fundamental to human dignity”. Another piece of legislation is the Water Act (Law No. 58/2005) which transposes European Directive 2000/60/EC and affirms two principles that are significant for setting water tariffs. On the one hand, water has social value and must be universally accessible for all basic human needs and it should be socially affordable. On the other hand, water has economic value, and must be used in an economically sustainable way, implying the recovery of costs for water services and the adoption of the principles of the polluter pays and the user pays. 14. With regard to sanitation, the Law on urban wastewater (Decree-Law No. 152/97) aims to provide adequate technical solutions for drainage and urban wastewater collection, treatment and disposal, pursuant to the European Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban wastewater treatment. 15. During the visit, the Special Rapporteur was informed of several pending bills concerning water that had been proposed by the parliament. He wishes to draw attention to draft law No. 335/XIII/2nd (BE) on the protection of individual and common rights to water, which establishes the fundamental rights to water and sanitation, and also aims to redirect water policy with a view to the equitable enjoyment of those services. 9 The draft was the result of initiatives taken by civil society, particularly the “Water for all” project. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the fact that the bill explicitly stipulates that sanitation is a human right in addition to the right to water. The Special Rapporteur reiterates that the right to sanitation should also be enshrined in national legislation, highlighting in that regard General Assembly resolution 70/169, which recognized the human right to sanitation as a distinct right. 8 9 All Portuguese legislation is available from https://dre.pt. See www.parlamento.pt/ActividadeParlamentar/Paginas/DetalheIniciativa.aspx?BID=40745. 5