The relevance of broader public policy considerations in the sovereign debt discourse cannot be ignored given the rise of the perception of sovereign default as a global concern. Recent literature tries to introduce a public law or policy perspective into the sovereign debt discourse, such as the theory of international public authority, l’ordre public de la dette souveraine and an incremental approach. As a matter of judicial interpretation, however, public policy arguments as such cannot override the text of the contract or treaty provisions in force. A better approach will thus be to examine whether and to what extent the applicable contract, statutory and treaty provisions afford such public policy considerations through interpretation in such a manner that practical solutions to holdout problems are deduced without losing the balance between bondholder protection and respect for sovereign debt restructuring.