Water Tribunal of the plain of Valencia

The Tribunal de las Aguas of Valencia (2006)

The Water Tribunal of the plain of Valencia, also known as the Tribunal of Waters (Catalan: Tribunal de les Aigües de València) is an institution of Justice to settle disputes arising from the use of irrigation water to farmers in the Irrigation Communities (Spanish: Comunidad de Regantes) and the canals (Quart, Benàger i Faitanar, Tormos, Mislata, Mestalla, Favara, Rascanya , Rovella and Chirivella) that are part of it.

In 2009 it was chosen along with the Council of Wise Men of the plain of Murcia as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.^[1]

Tribunal function

The Tribunal is a customary court. It consists of one representative, called a trustee, from each of the Irrigation Communities, nine in total, and one among them is elected president for a period of two years. Every Thursday of the week the Tribunal meets in a public and an administrative session at the Casa Vestuario at the Plaza de la Virgen of Valencia to discuss various issues, mainly the distribution of water. That is when the baliff, with the permission of the president, the reported calls from each of the canals, with the traditional phrase "denunciants de la sèquia de...!" (Spanish: "claimants of the irrigation canal of...!"). The trial takes place quickly and completely in Valencian. The complainant puts the case before the Tribunal, then the accused defends himself and answers questions. It is then when the Tribunal, with the exception of the trustee of the canal in question, to ensure fairness, decides the guilt of the defendant, and if so, is the trustee of the canal who imposes the penalty to pay for the offender, according to the Bylaws of the Irrigation Communities (Spanish: Ordenanzas de la propia Comunidad de Regantes).

History

Tribunal de las Aguas by Bernardo Ferrándiz, 1865

The Tribunal's origin is not fully known, although it is likely to be an evolution, based on previous Andalusian traditions. Some historians such as José Vicente Gómez Bayarri placed its origins in Roman times.^[2]

The most widespread theory, but without any historical basis, is owed to Francisco Javier Borrull. His hypothesis is that there was already a precedent in Roman times, but its foundation as it operates today occurred during the reigns of the Caliphs Abd-ar-Rahman III and Al-Hakam II, specifically in 960. Borrull's reason was that during the reign of these two Caliphs was an era of complete peace on the Iberian peninsula, and therefore it must have been founded then. In fact, the millennial anniversary of the founding of the Water Tribunial took place in 1960, led by Vicente Giner Boira, legal adviser to the Tribunal at the time, and leading proponent of this theory in the twentieth century.

See also

• Council of Wise Men of the plain of Murcia.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tribunal de les Aigües de València.

• Official Tribunal website. (Spanish)
• UNESCO website. Description.
• Archivo Vicente Giner Boira (Biblioteca Valenciana)