A/HRC/33/54 (c) The creditor systematically uses legal proceedings to obtain repayment; (d) The creditor refused to take part in debt restructuring efforts; (e) The creditor abused the weakness of the State to negotiate a repayment which is manifestly unbalanced; (f) The total reimbursement of the amounts demanded by the creditor would have a measurably adverse impact on the public finances of the State and would likely compromise the socioeconomic development of its population. 39. The law is not limited to HIPCs and provides comprehensive protection against litigation by vulture funds. It integrates human rights concerns while taking due account of the important public interests at stake when dealing with sovereign debt. 44 Requiring the judges to make an assessment of the impact that the repayment of the debt might have on the socioeconomic situation of the debtor State and on the well-being of its population is certainly an innovative element and one of the most prominent aspects of this legislation. 40. NML Capital is now seeking the annulment of this legislation through a recourse recently filed before the Constitutional Court of Belgium.45 Three Belgian civil society organizations have intervened in the process to support this legislation in defence of the public interest.46 It is contended that the several legal arguments put forward by the vulture funds seek an endorsement of the pre-eminence of the right to property of the bondholders, ignoring the broader human rights implications of the Belgian law.47 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 41. In the United Kingdom, Parliament first discussed a draft bill aimed at limiting the “maximum recoverable amount” of the defaulted sovereign debt of developing countries in 2009.48 The proposal established a threshold for the maximum recoverable amount (“equal to any amounts recovered from other actions related to the same defaulted sovereign debt”), the interest rate and the manner in which it is calculated.49 It further required that, before seeking a judgment or the enforcement of a judgment, vulture funds must file a “consent application” to provide national authorities with all the relevant information related to the acquisition or collection of the defaulted sovereign debt. 50 42. The initial draft did not pass, but in September 2010, another bill pursuing similar aims was adopted. The Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Act 2010 specifically limits the amount recoverable of claims related to “qualifying debts”. The legislation applies to any 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 12 Chambre des Représentants de Belgique, Proposition de loi concernant la lutte contre les activités des fonds vautours, Doc 54 0394/001, 7 October 2014. R. Vivien, « Après l’Argentine, les fonds vautours s’en prennent à la Belgique », Le Soir, 12 April 2016. “Three NGOs in court against a vulture fund”, press conference, Press Club Brussels,15 June 2016; see also OHCHR, “Belgian legislation against vulture funds should be preserved – United Nations rights expert urges”, 15 June 2016. See Requête en intervention du Comité pour l’abolition de la dette du Tiers Monde (CADTM), le Centre national de coopération au développement (CNCD-11.11.11), et Koepel van de Vlaame Noord Zuidbeweging 11.11.11, concernant la requête en annulation déposée par NML Capital Ltd contre la loi du 12 juillet 2015 relative à la lutte contre les activités des fonds vautours. Developing Country Debt (Restriction of Recovery) Bill 2008-2009. Ibid., section 3. Ibid., section 6.