Belgium and the European Union sign the “Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships”

Belgium and the European Union signed the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships (the “Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships”) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 14 March 2024. Belgium is the eighteenth State to sign the treaty. The European Union signs in accordance with Article 18(1) of the Beijing Convention on Judicial Sale of Ships which provides that a Regional Economic Integration Organization that is constituted by sovereign States and has competence over certain matters governed by the Convention may sign the Convention. Article 18(2) of the Convention provides that the Regional Economic Integration Organization is to make a declaration specifying the matters governed by the Convention in respect of which competence has been transferred to that organization by its member States.

The European Union has made that declaration indicating its competence in the matters governed by the Convention. Belgium and the European Union join Burkina Faso, China, Comoros, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Honduras, Kiribati, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Switzerland, Syria and Tanzania as a signatory to the treaty.

The Convention was prepared by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 7 December 2022. The Convention establishes a harmonized regime for giving international effect to judicial sales, while preserving domestic law governing the procedure of judicial sales and the circumstances in which judicial sales confer clean title. By ensuring legal certainty as to the title that the purchaser acquires in the ship as it navigates internationally, the Convention is designed to maximize the price that the ship is able to attract in the market and the proceeds available for distribution among creditors, and to promote international trade.

The Convention is open for signature, ratification, accession or approval by States and regional economic integration organizations. It will enter into force 180 days after the date of deposit of the third instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. (UNIS)