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Convention on the Int'l Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships (U.N.)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2023

John E. Bradley
John E. Bradley*
Affiliation:
Shareholder Vedder Price, P.C., United States
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Extract

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships at its 47th plenary meeting on December 7, 2022 (the Convention). Known as the “Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships,” the Convention opened for signature at a ceremony held in Beijing, PRC, on September 5, 2023. By its terms, the Convention will enter into force 180 days after the date that it is ratified, accepted, approved, or otherwise acceded to by at least three states. With strong backing from the maritime community, it is expected that the Convention will enter into force by 2024.

Type
International Legal Documents
Information
International Legal Materials , Volume 63 , Issue 1 , February 2024 , pp. 78 - 93
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The American Society of International Law

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References

ENDNOTES

1 U.N.G.A. Doc. A/res/77/100 (Dec. 19, 2022).

2 See United Nations UNCITRAL Information brochure, United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships at 3, https://uncitral.un.org/sites/uncitral.un.org/files/media-documents/uncitral/en/info_brochure_bjss_and_signing_ceremony_en.pdf [hereinafter Convention]; see also U.N.C.N. 157.2023.TREATIES-X.21 (Depository Information), Opening for Signature (June 7, 2023), https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CN/2023/CN.157.2023-Eng.pdf. As of September 30, 2023, the Convention had been signed by 16 states, including China, Liberia and Singapore. See https://uncitral.un.org/en/judicialsaleofships/status.

3 Convention, art. 21.1 (Entry into force).

4 See David Osler, International deal on judicial sale of ship gets industry backing, Lloyd's List (Apr. 27, 2023), https://hdpp.hr/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/International-deal-on-judicial-sale-of-ship-gets-industry-backing-__-Lloyds-List-1-2.pdf.

5 Founded in 1897, the CMI is the oldest international organization in the world that is focused exclusively on the unification of maritime law.

6 The IWG was and is comprised of maritime law practitioners from fourteen different jurisdictions worldwide.

7 U.N.G.A. Doc. A/CN.9/923 (Apr. 13, 2017).

8 . The record of Working Group VI on the project can be found at https://uncitral.un.org/en/working_groups/6/sale_ships.

9 See e.g., International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to Maritime Liens and Mortgages, 1926; International Convention Relating to the Arrest of Sea-Going Ships, Brussels (May 10, 1952); International Convention on Maritime Liens and Mortgages, 1993; and International Convention on Arrest of Ships, Geneva (March 12, 1999).

10 Convention, art. 1 (Purpose).

11 Convention, Preamble.

12 Id.

13 Convention, art. 2(a) (Definitions).

14 See Convention Explanatory Notes ¶ 37.

15 Convention, art. 3(1) (Scope of application).

16 See Convention Explanatory Notes ¶ 84. However, nothing in the Convention “prevents a State from giving effect—under its domestic law—to judicial sales conducted in a non-State party on terms similar to those provided in the Convention.” Id.

17 See Convention Explanatory Notes ¶ 87.

18 The expression “State of Judicial sale” refers to “the State in which the judicial sale of a ship is conducted.” Convention, art. 2(k) (Definitions).

19 Convention, art. 4(1) (Notice of judicial sale).

20 Id. art. 4(2).

21 Id. art. 4(3).

22 Id. art. 4(4).

23 Id. at art. 4(5). The “repository” is the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization “or an institution named by … [UNCITRAL].” Convention, art. 11 at ¶ 1 (Repository).

24 Convention, art. 4(6) (Notice of judicial sale) and Annex I thereto.

25 Convention, art. 5(1) (Certificate of judicial sale).

26 Id. art. 5(5).

27 Convention, art. 6 (International effects of a judicial sale).

28 Convention, art. 7(1) (Action by the registry).

29 Goldfish Shipping, S.A. v. HSH Nordbank AG, No. 07-3518, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93135 (E.D. Pa. Nov. 3, 2008), motion to amend denied, 623 F. Supp. 2d 635 (E.D. Pa. 2009), affirmed, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 8224 (3d Cir. Apr. 21, 2010).

30 Convention, art. 8(1) (No arrest of the ship).

31 Id. art. 8(2).

32 Convention, art. 14 (Other bases for giving international effect).

33 Convention, art. 15(a)(1) (Matters not governed by this Convention).

34 Id. art. 15(a)(2).