The Doctrine of Odious Debt in International Law: A Restatement

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff King
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Odious Debt

Odious Debt and Jus Post Bellum

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 666-694
Author(s):  
James Gallen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Financial Burden ◽  
Standard Of Care ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
Jus Post Bellum ◽  
Legal Principle ◽  
Odious Debt

Odious debt concerns the repudiation and cancellation of debt accrued by a State for ‘odious’ purposes. This article argues that odious debt can play a role in jus post bellum in lessening the financial burden placed on States who experience conflict and generate a clear standard for investors who seek to enforce a State’s obligations to repay its debts and other financial obligations after conflict. This article highlights several challenges inhibiting the translation of the proposal of odious debt into an international legal principle. It offers a conception of odious debt that seeks to resolve these challenges by aligning with other areas of public international law which operate concurrently. This article considers how international human rights law could give clear meaning to the contested term ‘odious’, how to conceive of the appropriate standard of care for creditors and examines potential institutions for debt resolution and potential incentives of relevant actors.

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