UK’s obligations won’t go to zero if we quit with no deal

Pavlos Eleftheriadis evaluates the claim, found in the report of the Financial Sub-Committee of the EU Committee of the House of Lords, that the UK would be under no obligation to pay the so-called 'Brexit Bill' were it to leave the EU with no deal. He argues that the Vienna Convention makes it clear that Treaty obligations would remain in international law, unless the specific Treaty provided otherwise. He agrees with the majority of experts who gave evidence to the Committee that the better interpretation of Article 50 would not provide the UK with a means of escaping its obligations in international law. In other words,

The UK cannot escape its obligations merely by walking away.

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