The United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships (the "Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships") opened for signature at a ceremony in Beijing held on 5 September 2023. Fifteen States signed the Convention at the ceremony, which was attended by senior officials and representatives of more than 30 States.
The ceremony was followed by an international symposium, which highlighted the main features of the Convention and its expected impact on shipping, and addressed current topics of interest in the field of international carriage of goods by sea.
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.
