Abstract

OBANDO-CAMINO, Iván. Legal historical development of arbitral jurisdiction for water users' organizations in republican Chile. agric. soc. desarro [online]. 2009, vol.6, n.3, pp.223-251. ISSN 1870-5472.

This article analyzes the origins of arbitral jurisdiction for Chilean water rights, and establish that they are found in the statutes of the Sociedad del Canal de Maipo, dictated between 1827 and 1831, which authorized its Board of Directors to hear conflicts over right involved in the company as sole and exclusive judge. These statutes - including arbitral jurisdiction - served as a model for the first law (1908) about channel users' associations which is why later legislation replicated this arbitral jurisdiction. Jurisprudence determined in 1945 that the Board of Directors of a channel users' association could not hear trials regarding the existence or inexistence of associates' rights.

Keywords : Arbitration; jurisdiction; water users' organization.