Odious
Debt: Exploring the Outer Limits of Sovereign
Debt Relief
The North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial
Regulation
Presented on February 10, 2007
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Sponsored by:
UNC School of Law, Student
Congress, Student Bar Association
Sovereign powers incur
enormous debts, yet often are not subject to the same rules as private
debtors. As sovereigns continue
to accumulate substantial debt obligations, the world market must
develop a mechanism for addressing the particularly thorny issue of
repudiation of sovereign debts.
In the absence of an effective mechanism the legal system may be
increasingly called upon to settle sovereign debt disputes, despite the
fact that it may not provide the most adequate forum. Recognizing the need to understand
the practical challenges of sovereign debt repudiation, specifically
through the doctrine of odious debts, the North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial
Regulation held its seventh annual symposium entitled “Odious Debt: Exploring the
Outer Limits of Sovereign Debt Relief” on Saturday, February 10, 2007. Distinguished speakers from the
International Monetary Fund, Bank of Japan, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill Department of History, the New School, Boston Provident,
John Marshall School of Law, Cleary Gottlieb, Duke University Law
School, Clifford Chance, and the University of Washington School of Law
addressed the existing debate over the many issues surrounding the
repudiation of sovereign debt.
The
symposium has already proven itself as a valuable part of the debate
surrounding odious debt, and in September of 2007 the Economic Policy
and Debt Department of the World Bank released its anticipated
discussion paper entitled “The Concept of Odious Debt: Some Considerations.” The Journal’s symposium was cited prominently in the
article, appearing as the first citation. A copy of this paper is available in
PDF format at the World
Bank’s website (following this link will take you off of the Journal’s web site). The current editors and staff of the Journal were honored that the
February symposium received such recognition.
The
World Bank paper makes reference to the Journal’s symposium issue, which was published after
the event. The symposium issue
features selected scholarship from the two-panel discussions that
addressed a variety of legal topics concerning odious debt. Topics addressed in the two panels
included: how and when disputes over repudiation of sovereign debt
might arise; what venues might be used for raising and evaluating such
claims; evaluating which legal doctrines might prove to be significant
obstacles to the repudiation of sovereign obligations; the potential
consequences of the successful operation of any odious debt mechanism;
and the political challenges to creating new international
legal-institutional structures for addressing odious debt claims. The issue also includes an
introductory piece by Jeff King on the doctrine of odious debt, which
prefigures his forthcoming restatement on the topic. For a list of articles in this issue,
please visit our current
issue page. For information
on how to order copies of the symposium issue, or for questions about
subscribing to the Journal,
please visit this
page.
We
are hopeful that the Journal’s
upcoming symposium will ignite as much interest as “Odious
Debt.” On Saturday, November 17, 2007,
the Journal will host our
eighth annual symposium, entitled “Extraordinary
Rendition: The State Secrets About the War on Terror,” which
will address the controversial issue of “rendering”
suspected terrorists to third-party nations for interrogation. The Journal is proud to present a distinguished panel of
scholars from around the world who will address this issue from a
variety of perspectives. We
sincerely hope that you can join us.
For more information on the “Extraordinary
Rendition” symposium, please visit this page
and download our brochure, or please contact Symposium Editor Courtney
Harris at charris@email.unc.edu.
