Abstract

The judgment delivered by the ECHR in the case "Mamatas et al v. Greece" is of the utmost significance for future sovereign debt restructurings. The Court focuses on the wide margin of appreciation left to the debtor State to counter the crisis and safeguard its financial stability, finding no violations of the right to property, taken alone or in conjunction with the prohibition of discrimination. Relying on the principle of the equal treatment of bondholders, the Court dismisses any mechanism to afford special protection to small investors.