Art. 1 - The purpose of the International Association for Water Law (AIDA), created in Washington, D.C., the United States of America, on May 30th, 1967, is to foster the evolution, study, knowledge, understanding and application of water law, national and international, with a view to the development of national water legislation and of the legal aspects of national water administrations and institutions, and of related aspects of international water law. The doctrines, laws, institutions and administrations pertaining to areas smaller than nation-states are also included.


Art. 2 - The Association is a private international organization. The Secretariat of the Association shall be located in the place designated by the Executive Council (hereinafter referred to as “The Council”).


Art. 3 - I. The Association has two categories of members:

a) Individual members:

i) Regular members. These are lawyers, or holders of law degrees, with a specialization in water law, who are admitted to regular membership by the Council under the sponsorship of a regular member.

ii) Associate members. These are engineers, geologists, agronomists, economists, managers, hydrologists, meteorologists, or others, who have specialized in water or hydraulic matters, who are admitted to associate membership by the Council under the sponsorship of a regular member.

iii) Patrons. Members who make a donation to the Association in excess of € or US $150 are awarded the tile of Patrons of the Association.

b) Corporate members:

These are corporate and other legal entities which are admitted to corporate membership by the Council upon the proposal of a member of the Association.

II. The Council is authorized to admit new individual members subject to the payment of the membership dues.

III. The Council may waive, temporarily, the duty to pay the annual membership fee with regard to those members from developing countries who are not in a position to raise the money in foreign currency, upon their request.


Art. 4 - Membership is terminated under any of the following circumstances:

a) resignation;
b) non-payment for two consecutive years of the dues fixed by the Executive Council;
c) behaviour contrary to the interests of the Association.


Art. 5 - I. To be admitted as a regular member of the Association it is necessary to hold a law degree, and to fulfill one of the following conditions:

a) to be or to have been an official or counsellor of, or consultant to, or counsellor of, a public or private institution responsible for the administration and use of water;
b) to be or to have been a professor or researcher at the university or institute level in a chair specializing in water law or water administration;
c) to have published one or more books or articles on water law or water administration.

II. To be admitted as an associate member it is necessary to have an academic degree in one of the disciplines specified in Art. 3-I a), ii), above, and to fulfill mutatis mutandis one of the conditions mentioned in Art. 5-I above.


Art. 6 - The organs of the Association are:

a) the Executive Council;
b) the Conference.


Art. 7 - I. The Council shall consist of the following members:

a) the Executive Chairperson of the Executive Council;
b) the Deputy Chairperson;
c) the Treasurer;
d) the Editor;
e) up to five additional members
each of them having one vote,

and of the following observers:

f) the Honorary Chairperson, and
g) honorary members
with no voting rights

II. The members of the Council are appointed by the Executive Chairperson; the observers by decision of the Council.

III. The Council shall be presided over by the Executive Chairperson, who shall be elected by the Council itself. The Executive Chairperson of the Council shall be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Association. He shall administer and dispose of the assets of the Association, accept grants, carry out the recommendations of the Conferences, summon and organize the Conferences and establish their agendas, publish the Newsletter of the Association and other publications, and approve the establishment of national and regional committees of the Association. The Executive Chairperson shall represent the Association before third parties. He may delegate such functions to any member or observer.

IV. The Council shall amend this Charter and decide on the dissolution and liquidation of the Association.

V. The Council's decisions are valid when by oral vote during a formal meeting of the Council, or by e-mail, they are approved by the majority of the members. This approval is assumed to be tacit when no reply to a proposal has been received within 30 days from the date of the dispatch. In case of a tie vote, the Executive Chairperson of the Council shall have a casting vote.

VI. The Council shall adopt bylaws governing the procedures of the Conferences.

VII. The Council shall determine the duties of its members in so far as they are not specified in this Charter.

VIII. The Council shall establish the annual membership dues of the Association. A differentiated schedule of dues shall be established in respect of individual and corporate members.

IX. The Council may confer the status of Honorary Officer upon a member of the Association, or of Honorary Member to a non-member, in recognition of extraordinary service to the Association. Honorary Officers, Honorary Members shall not be liable to pay dues. Honorary Members shall have no voting rights.

X. The Council may establish institutional relationships between the Association and other international organizations. These relationships entail, on the basis of reciprocity,

a) invitations to send representatives to Conferences and meetings of common interest;
b) exemption of these representatives from the payment of annual dues;
c) right to receive, free of charge, one copy of the reports and documents of these Conferences and meetings; and
d) facilities in the exchange of information.

XI. Membership in the Council may be terminated by the Executive Chairperson under the following circumstances:

a) resignation;
b) nonpayment of dues for more than one year;
c) inability or failure to perform duties.


Art. 8 - The Conferences:

I. Will meet at the call of the Executive Chairperson of the Council.

II. Will be presided over by a person designated by the Executive Chairperson of the Council. The officers of the Conferences shall be those appointed by the Executive Chairperson of the Council plus those elected by each Conference. The president-designated and the officers so appointed will hold office until the end of the Conference.

III. Shall consider only the subjects included in the agenda;

IV. Can pass recommendations, or abstain from same. For adoption, any recommendation shall require the majority vote of the members present and registered for the Conference;

V. Can recommend the publication of the papers presented at the Conferences with the prior concurrence of the Council;

VI. Will have as their aim the exchange and diffusion of views with respect to doctrine and scientific and technical information;

VII. Observers from other institutions, governmental or nongovernmental, but with similar or common purposes, may be invited by the Council to participate and speak at the Conferences, and to present papers.


Art. 9 - I. The Executive Chairperson of the Council designates the Deputy Chairperson to assist him in the performance of his duties.

II. The members of the Scientific Committee are appointed by the Chairman of the Council on the basis of their qualifications and of the services they may render to the Association, and may be dismissed by the Chairman under the circumstances indicated in Article 7.X


Art. 10 - I. The Council designates a Treasurer from among its members. The Treasurer is responsible for the collection, custody and disbursement of all funds of the Association.

II. The Treasurer shall expend the funds of the Association jointly with a member of the Council designated by the Executive Chairperson.

III. The Treasurer shall submit to the Executive Council a statement of the accounts of the Association as of 31 December of each year not later than 31 January of the next year.

Art. 11 - I. The Council designates an Editor from among its members. The Editor is responsible for the issuance of AquaForum, the newsletter of the Association, and for other publications of the Association.

Art. 12 - Miscellaneous

I. The founding members of the Association are those who participated in the Constitutive Session on May 30th, 1967, in Washington. They are:

a) regular members: Charles Campet, Guillermo J. Cano, Dante A. Caponera, Vicente Giner, Robert D. Hayton, Armaldo Merino, G.W. Putto, José Rojas Garcidueñas, Isidoro Zanotti, Rafael Tasso.
b) associate members: Luis Cabrera, Mariano de la Hoz.

II. This Charter was unanimously subscribed in Valencia, Spain, on 24 March 1968 by the Interim Committee and was amended by the Council on 30 June 1997, on 31 October 2001, on 25 June 2003, and on 29 December 2008.

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