For information only – not an official document
UNIS/L/376
9 May 2025
VIENNA, 9 May (UN Information Service) – Barbados signed and deposited its instrument of ratification for 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 8 May 2025. Consequently, Barbados becomes the second contracting State to the Convention, joining El Salvador, which became the first contracting State to the Convention on 23 May 2024. Thirty-three States and one regional economic integration organization have thus far become signatories to the Convention.
The Convention was prepared by UNCITRAL and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 7 December 2022. It 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.
Information on the Convention and its status is available on the UNCITRAL website: uncitral.un.org.
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The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. Its mandate is to remove legal obstacles to international trade by progressively modernizing and harmonizing trade law. It prepares legal texts in a number of key areas such as international commercial dispute settlement, electronic commerce, insolvency, international payments, sale of goods, transport law, procurement and infrastructure development.
UNCITRAL also provides technical assistance to law reform activities, including assisting Member States to review and assess their law reform needs and to draft the legislation required to implement UNCITRAL texts. The UNCITRAL secretariat is located in Vienna, Austria. For more information, visit: uncitral.un.org.
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For information, please contact:
Neale Bergman
Senior Legal Officer
UNCITRAL secretariat
Email: neale.bergman[at]un.org
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