Author of Chapter Chapter: The Human Right to Water Analyzed in the Light of Federal Law No. 14.026/2020 Description of the book: The Federal Constitution of 1988, our Citizen Constitution, innovates in several aspects, especially with regard to the right to health as a right of all and a duty of the State, and its access must be universal and equal. In addition to the provisions of article 186, in item IV of article 199, the constitution assigned the single health system the role of participating in the formulation and implementation of basic sanitation policies. As commonplace as it may sound today, this constitutional determination inaugurated an unprecedented paradigm with regard to the issue of basic sanitation in Brazil. The Constitution of the Republic therefore contrasts the concept of basic sanitation as an infrastructure measure with the concept of basic sanitation as a public health measure. In the former, sanitation is presented as a necessary investment for the reproduction of capital, the provision of which should be carried out according to a business logic aimed at self-sustainability. The second, a reflection of the sanitation debates of the 1980s, sees basic sanitation as a public health measure on the social policy agenda. However, more than 30 years after the promulgation of the Magna Carta, Brazil still faces serious problems related to basic sanitation. According to the Sanitation Ranking 2021, formulated by the Trata Brasil Institute, the national scenario is as follows: a) around 35 million Brazilians do not have access to water services; b) approximately 100 million people do not have access to sewage collection; c) the country still does not treat half of the sewage it generates (49%), which means that 5,300 Olympic-sized swimming pools of untreated sewage are released into nature every day1. Given these figures, it is clear that access to basic sanitation is a constitutional right in Brazil, aimed at improving the quality of life of the population and preserving the environment. This is why, on July 15, 2020, Law 14.026/2020 was sanctioned, referring to the new Basic Sanitation Regulatory Framework, which provides for the universalization of water and sewage services by 2033 and provides opportunities for private investment. These are some of the issues addressed in this book, Basic Sanitation Regulatory Framework: Law 14.026/2020, brilliantly organized by lawyers Leandro Frota, Maurício Bezerra and Vânia Aieta. Through this publication, the Brazilian Bar Association reaffirms its commitment to the defense of human rights and the improvement of legal culture in the country, strictly observing the provisions of art. 44 of Law n. 8.906/1994 (Statute of the Bar Association). Click here to download Click here to download