Skip to content Skip to navigation
University of Warwick
  • Study
  • |
  • Research
  • |
  • Business
  • |
  • Alumni
  • |
  • News
  • |
  • About

University of Warwick
Publications service & WRAP

Highlight your research

  • WRAP
    • Home
    • Search WRAP
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse WRAP by Year
    • Browse WRAP by Subject
    • Browse WRAP by Department
    • Browse WRAP by Funder
    • Browse Theses by Department
  • Publications Service
    • Home
    • Search Publications Service
    • Browse by Warwick Author
    • Browse Publications service by Year
    • Browse Publications service by Subject
    • Browse Publications service by Department
    • Browse Publications service by Funder
  • Help & Advice
University of Warwick

The Library

  • Login
  • Admin

Life, debt and human rights : contextualising the international regime for sovereign debt relief

Tools
- Tools
+ Tools

Tan, Celine (2011) Life, debt and human rights : contextualising the international regime for sovereign debt relief. Working Paper. Coventry, UK: Warwick School of Law Research Paper. Warwick School of Law Research Paper Series (2011/09 ).

An open access version can be found in:
  • SSRN

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

Since 1996, the G8 and other northern creditor states have accepted the principle of debt cancellation in the sovereign debt regime, responding to the political impetus to address third world indebtedness through a series of official debt relief programmes. However, the long-term sustainability of this approach is uncertain. The international regime for sovereign debt relief remains ad-hoc in nature and relies heavily on the political will of key creditor states. Further, despite a notional operational link between debt relief and poverty reduction, the current system prioritizes debt servicing over and above a state’s duty to provide for the social and economic welfare of its citizens.

This paper considers the notion of debt relief for developing countries within a wider context of global redistributive justice, global public goods and human rights. It argues that the limitations of the contemporary debt regime stem from its underlying conceptual approach to debt relief, viewing sovereign indebtedness as a problem of bad governance and poor fiscal management and not one that is symptomatic of the wider structural deficiencies of the global economic system. The paper argues that debt relief and mechanisms for achieving them must be located within a wider systemic reform of the international financial architecture and that this, in turn, must be located within a human rights-based framework. The systemic issues of the international financial architecture and the asymmetrical regulatory norms of international finance contribute to the problem of sovereign indebtedness.

Item Type: Working or Discussion Paper (Working Paper)
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
Series Name: Warwick School of Law Research Paper Series
Publisher: Warwick School of Law Research Paper
Place of Publication: Coventry, UK
Official Date: 2011
Dates:
DateEvent
2011Published
Number: 2011/09
Institution: University of Warwick
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Open Access Version:
  • SSRN

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item View Item
twitter

Email us: wrap@warwick.ac.uk
Contact Details
About Us