Dispute resolution mechanisms are an essential component of any financing strategy. In the sovereign debt case, these mechanisms continue to evolve. In the preservation of the international cooperation system and local stability, it is critical that these mechanisms support the sustainable economic development and democratic preferences.
This paper analyzes the July 2018 “Austerity measures” fact sheet of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), where parties have challenged state measures to an economic crisis. The fact sheet provides a court compendium of selected cases, argumentations, and decisions. Following an interdisciplinary approach (law, economics, policies), the paper first establishes the existing theory on “judicialization of economics” to establish the desirability of economic policymaking by courts. Second, the paper analyzes the case compendium through the lenses of the theory and complementary case research to determine the exerted economic policymaking capacity of the ECtHR. Third, the paper establishes the implications of these ECtHR rulings for the international sovereign debt restructuring mechanism (legal framework) and the market, particularly on relevance, content, direction, and intensity of the policy signals of the decisions by the specialized human rights court. The paper also seeks to identify the position and role of the court informing the highly contested debates on human rights and sustainability in the sovereign debt case.