Sovereign Debt and Human Rights

Sovereign debt is necessary for the functioning of many modern states, yet its impact on human rights is underexplored in academic literature. This volume provides the reader with a step-by-step analysis of the debt phenomenon and how it affects human rights. Beginning by setting out the historical, political and economic context of sovereign debt, the book goes on to address the human rights dimension of the policies and activities of the three types of sovereign lenders: international financial institutions (IFIs), sovereigns and private lenders. Bantekas and Lumina, along with a team of global experts, establish the link between debt and the manner in which the accumulation of sovereign debt violates human rights, examining some of the conditions imposed by structural adjustment programs on debtor states with a view to servicing their debt. They outline how such conditions have been shown to exacerbate the debt itself at the expense of economic sovereignty, concluding that such measures worsen the borrower's economic situation, and are injurious to the entrenched rights of peoples.

Chapter 1 - The Historical Context of Sovereign Debt
Chapter 2 - Sovereign Debt Crises: A Problem of Debt Management?
Chapter 3 - Human Rights and Sovereign Debts in the Context of Property and Creditor Rights
Chapter 4 - Private Loans to Sovereign Borrowers
Chapter 5 - Export Credits, Sovereign Debt, and Human Rights
Chapter 6 - The Financial and Social Cost of Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 7 - Foreign Investment, Sovereign Debt and Human Rights
Chapter 8 - The Role of Credit Rating Agencies in Sovereign Debt Markets
Chapter 9 - Sovereign Debt and Human Rights: Making the Connection
Chapter 10 - Sovereign Debt and the Right to Food
Chapter 11 - Sovereign Debt and the Right to Health
Chapter 12 - Sovereign Debt and its Impact on the Right to Education
Chapter 13 - Sovereign Debt and the Right to Development
Chapter 14 - Sovereign Debt and Self-Determination
Chapter 15 - Debt Crises, Economic Adjustment and Labour Standards
Chapter 16 - Sovereign Debt and Civil/Political Rights
Chapter 17 - Illicit Financial Flows, Sovereign Debt and Human Rights
Chapter 18 - Towards a More Ethical Lending to Sovereigns
Chapter 19 - Conditionality and Debt Relief: An Overview
Chapter 20 - Debt, Austerity and the Structural Responses of Social Rights
Chapter 21 - Guiding Principles to Assess the Human Rights Impact of Economic Reforms?
Chapter 22 - Odious Debt, Adverse Creditors and the Democratic Ideal
Chapter 23 - A Soft Law Mechanism for Sovereign Debt Restructuring Based on the UN Principles
Chapter 24 - A Sovereign Debt Arbitral Mechanism from a Human Rights Perspective
Chapter 25 - Citizen Debt Audits
Chapter 26 - Curbing 'Vulture Fund' Litigation
Chapter 27 - Sustainable Financing through Domestic Resource Mobilization (DRM): The Role of International Law
Chapter 28 - The Right to Unilateral Repudiation of Odious, Illegal and Illegitimate Sovereign Debt as a Human Rights Defence

Ilias Bantekas FCIArb is Professor of International Law and Arbitration at Brunel and Northwestern (HBKU Qatar) universities and a senior fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies of the University of London. He has consulted governments, international organisations, private clients and NGOs in most areas of international law and regularly acts as arbitrator. Key works include: International Human Rights Law and Practice (2nd ed, CUP 2016 with L Oette); International Law (3rd ed, OUP 2017, with E Papastavridis); and Introduction to International Arbitration (CUP 2015). Cephas Lumina is full Research Professor of Law at the University of Fort Hare, an Extra-Ordinary Professor of Human Rights Law at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, an Advocate of the High Court of Zambia and the former United Nations Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights (2008-2014). His work, particularly the UN Guiding Principles on Foreign Debt and Human Rights, is considered as having changed the political and legal landscape in the area of sovereign debt and human rights. He has consulted for various regional and international organisations, governments and non-governmental organisations on human rights and related issues. He is currently a Member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (2017-2021).