Settling Russia's Imperial and Baltic Debts
成果类型：
Article
署名作者：
Denza, Eileen; Poulsen, Lauge
署名单位：
University of London; University College London
刊物名称：
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
ISSN/ISSBN：
0002-9300
DOI：
10.1017/ajil.2023.23
发表日期：
2023
页码：
441-480
关键词：
摘要：
The 1918 Soviet default is the longest and most complex sovereign debt dispute in history. The first settlement with a major Western power came with the United Kingdom in 1986. It followed a settlement almost twenty years earlier for claims arising from the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states. We show how the two negotiations became intertwined and prompted both states to take pragmatic positions on international law. Whereas the Soviet Union showed little interest in legally justifying its inconsistent positions on debt succession, the United Kingdom developed contested legal arguments on state recognition to justify using gold belonging to the Baltic States to settle Soviet claims. In addition, we document how UK government lawyers admitted internally that Britain's involvement in the Russian Civil War had been illegal, which in turn justified very limited compensation to British claimants.