HOW SOUTH SUDAN'S ACCESSION TO THE CFA WILL IMPACT ITS WATER OBLIGATIONS IN LIGHT OF THE LAW OF TREATIES’ SUCCESSION

Abstract

South Sudan formally acceded to The Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) on August 14, 2024. This accession represented a pivotal moment, since it fulfilled the legal threshold required for the CFA to enter into force. However, South Sudan came into existence only in 2011, after its secession from the Sudan through an internal referendum. Yet, the two parties neglected to address the issue of Nile water allocation between them, not only in the 2005 Naivasha Comprehensive Peace Agreement, but also in the Nine Agreements of Addis Ababa 2012. Using the doctrinal legal methodology as its analytical framework, the present study examines the legal relationship between "the new state of South Sudan" and the Nile River agreements to which the Sudan, the predecessor state was bound by, in light of the Rules of International Succession for Treaties, and the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Furthermore, it explores through the provisions of the Law on Treaties and relevant ICJ jurisprudence, the impact of the CFA’s entry into force on South Sudan’s international water obligations, particularly toward the Sudan and Egypt. The present paper’s distinctive analysis of laws, judicial rulings, and the Nile agreements demonstrates the originality of this research paper. The conclusion is that due to the succession of treaties, South Sudan as the successor state assumes the treaties obligations and rights of the Sudan, the predecessor state. South Sudan, therefore inherits the Sudan’s obligations that are enshrined in boundary agreements and the territorial legal regimes governing the Nile River, which will remain unaffected by the CFA’s entry into force.