(February 18, 2014) As Catalonia’s secession movement gains new momentum, Albert Pont, the leader of a Catalan pro-independence business lobby, recently called out part of the national debt owed by the government of Spain — estimated at 962 billion euros in 2013, its highest level in a century — as “odious debt.” In the event of separation from Spain, Pont said that while an independent Catalonia — currently a province widely known as “the factory of Spain” and as the country’s wealthiest region — would be willing to “assume part of [the Spanish] debt; obviously, a proportionate one…. there are shares of the debt that we are not responsible for.”
Africa’s odious debts: a new book reveals links between foreign loans and capital flight
(October 4, 2011) Africa’s Odious Debts: How Foreign Loans and Capital Flight Bled a Continent, by James Boyce and Leonce Ndikumana.
Egypt Rethinking Aid Options
(July 15, 2011) Since the days of President Anwar Sadat through January of this year, Egypt has relied heavily on Western sources for assistance as well as for loans and credits.
Ecuador’s Sovereign Default: A Pyrrhic Victory for Odious Debt?
(February 28, 2010) Ecuador’s strategic default on some of its external debt last year has drawn much commentary and generated passionate reactions. Some commentators who advocate creating a mechanism for addressing odious or illegitimate debt encouraged Ecuador to repudiate its obligations and have generally applauded its decision to do so. For those who are sympathetic to efforts to create such a mechanism, however, this enthusiasm may be misplaced.
‘Odious debt’ recognized by British Parliament
(July 14, 2008) Debt Relief, 3rd Report 1997-1998, London: House of Commons The British House of Commons International Development Committee recognizes the concept of odious debt.
Contractualism and the moral evaluation of international economic institutions: the case of odious debt
(April 6, 2007) Contractualism as T. M. Scanlon has conceptualized it has become one of
the more influential moral theories of the past decade. Though
contractualism connects to the social contract tradition, it has not
yet been developed into a full-fledged political philosophy.
Public power and private purpose: odious debt and the political economy of hegemony
(April 3, 2007) This Article examines the process by which overlapping interests between private bankers and government translates into influence and power mediated through the use of bank loans as instruments of foreign policy.
Odious debt, odious credit, economic development, and democratization
(April 1, 2007) The problem of odious debt typically arises when a despotic regime has incurred substantial sovereign debt and is then succeeded by a less-despotic, possibly democratic, regime that seeks to repudiate that debt. There is no agreed-upon method for dealing with attempts to repudiate odious debt
Mitu Gulati: A ‘Renaissance Man’ in Law
(March 30, 2007) Mitu Gulati is described as a leading scholar on sovereign debt whose work looks at how to discourage lending to tyrants who raid the public purse of funds obtained through international borrowing.
Contract, priority, and odious debt
(March 16, 2007) This Article proposes that sovereign nations and their creditors adopt a contractual approach to the seemingly intractable problem of odious debt. Odious debt is generally defined as an obligation incurred by a despotic or illegitimate leader that provides no value to the population of the sovereign.
International law supports Iraqi debt challenge
(February 11, 2005) Saddam Hussein used money western countries lent him mainly to arm himself, oppress his people, and build opulent palaces. So should his victims have to pay it back without knowing who lent the money and what the money financed?
Proposal to declare foreign debt incurred by military regime odious
(November 11, 2004) Legislation contesting the legitimacy of Argentine foreign debt contracted during seven years of military rule will be debated next week by the National Congress of Argentina.
Suing tyranny?
(April 10, 2004) Human-rights activists take to U.S. courts to call to account some of the worst foreign abusers. That may sound good in theory, but the high court will have to consider whether it’s right to let lawyers conduct foreign policy by lawsuit.
Appeal Judgment – Crown v. Lahmeyer International GmbH
(April 10, 2004) The full judgment pertaining to the Lesotho Court of Appeals decision to uphold the conviction of Lahmeyer International on several counts of bribery connected to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.
Crown v. Lahmeyer International GmbH (PDF file)
(March 22, 2004) The Crown has noted a cross-appeal in respect of four of the counts on which Lahmeyer was acquitted. It also seeks to appeal against what it claims to be the leniency of the sentences imposed.
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