The Doctrine of Odious Debt in International Law: A Restatement

Jeff King

may 2016 · Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law Libro 125 · Cambridge University Press

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According to the doctrine of odious debt, loans which are knowingly provided to subjugate or defraud the population of a debtor state are not legally binding against that state under international law. Breaking with widespread scepticism, this groundbreaking book reaffirms the original doctrine through a meticulous and definitive examination of state practice and legal history. It restates the doctrine by introducing a new classification of odious debts and defines 'odiousness' by reference to the current, much more determinate and litigated framework of existing public international law. Acknowledging that much of sovereign debt is now governed by the private law of New York and England, Jeff King explores how 'odious debts' in international law should also be regarded as contrary to public policy in private law. This book is essential reading for practising lawyers, scholars, and development and human rights workers.

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Jeff King is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Laws, University College London. He was previously a Fellow and Tutor in Law at Balliol College, Oxford, and an Associate at Sullivan and Cromwell LLP, New York City. His book Judging Social Rights (Cambridge, 2012) won the 2014 UK Society of Legal Scholars Peter Birks Book Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship. He is Co-Editor of Current Legal Problems and the UK Constitutional Law Blog, and sits on the Editorial Committee of Public Law. His scholarship spans comparative public law, international law, and jurisprudence and political theory.