Tan, Celine (2013) Life, debt and human rights : contextualising the international regime for sovereign debt relief. In: Schefer, Krista Nadakavukaren, (ed.) Poverty and the International Economic Law System: Duties to the Poor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107032743

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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:	Book Item
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Place of Publication:	Cambridge
ISBN:	9781107032743
Book Title:	Poverty and the International Economic Law System: Duties to the Poor
Editor:	Schefer, Krista Nadakavukaren
Official Date:	2013
Dates:	Date Event 2013 Published
Number of Pages:	453
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
Open Access Version:	SSRN

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• Life, debt and human rights : contextualising the international regime for sovereign debt relief. (deposited 21 May 2014 10:54)
  • Life, debt and human rights : contextualising the international regime for sovereign debt relief. (deposited 02 Sep 2015 16:07) [Currently Displayed]

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