Moratorium
In law, a
moratorium (from
Latin morari, to delay) is a legal authorization postponing for a specified time the payment of debts or
obligations. The term is also sometimes used to mean the period over which the
indulgence or period of grace stretches, the authorization itself being called a
moratory law. A moratory law is usually passed in some special period of
political or
commercial stress; for instance, on several occasions during the
Franco-German War the
French government passed moratory laws. Their
international validity was discussed at length, and upheld in the
English law case
Rouquette v
Overman (
1875) LR 10 QB.