The current global debt crisis perpetuates inequalities and power imbalances between countries in the Global North and Global South. In this context, debt restructurings can play a central role in resolving the risks of debt distress for countries in the South. Yet restructurings have often failed to achieve equitable outcomes, perpetuating cycles of unsustainable debt. The absence of a coherent international legal framework further complicates these issues, leaving negotiations opaque. Structural reform to the international debt architecture is needed to break cycles of unsustainable debt that hinder development and basic rights’ fulfilment. In this context, this brief will analyse how establishing an international legal statutory framework that embeds international human rights standards into debt restructurings can address these challenges. The brief will make concrete policy recommendations for the G20, specifically to its newly established Cost of Capital Commission. Recommendations include the need for the G20 to: a) recognise the inadequacy of current approaches to debt restructuring in addressing the current global debt crisis; b) recognise the potential of human rights principles to provide a basis for more just and equitable debt restructuring, and endorse the standards discussed in the brief; and c) commit to work towards a comprehensive, rights-based statutory mechanism for debt restructuring, hosted at the United Nations, to address current system deficits.