AMSTERDAM, 09/07/08 - Access to water is a human right. Its supply can therefore not be halted to a defaulting consumer, a district court in Heerlen has ruled.

The ruling followed a dispute between a water company from Limburg (WML) and a defaulting customer from Heerlen. According to Jonathan Verschuuren, Professor of European and International Environmental law, a Dutch judge has for the first time named the supply of water as a human right.

"The ruling is strange," according to Verschuuren. "If you follow this line, you can only cut people off if they subsequently receive a minimum of water from the government." The internationally recognised minimum for washing and drinking is 50 litres a day, he remarked.

Legal experts are assuming that WML will appeal against the verdict. It is feared that more bills will remain unpaid if cutting off the water is not allowed. A WML spokesman declined to comment yet, saying the company first wants to study the verdict.