CMI and ETL issue joint publication on Beijing Convention

On 7 December 2022 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships. The Convention is the culmination of work undertaken by the Comité Maritime International (CMI) and later on by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Its aim is to provide harmonisation, legal certainty and fairness to all stakeholders in judicial sales of ships: traders, ship owners, shipping financiers and creditors alike. The signing ceremony of the Convention is scheduled to be held in Beijing later this year.

The booklet edited by ETL and the CMI contains not only the text of the Convention in all 6 authentic language versions, but also a commentary co-authored by experts who have actively contributed to the genesis of the Convention within UNCITRAL Working Group VI (Judicial Sale of Ships), as well as the Explanatory Note prepared by the UNCITRAL Secretariate and reflecting the deliberations of UNCITRAL Working Group VI (Judicial Sale of Ships). This ‘bible’ on the Beijing Convention concludes with contributions by a number of professional organisations, representing amongst others the ship owning community, shipping financiers, flag states and the judiciary, expressing their support for the Convention and the need for States to sign and ratify it.