A Critical Analysis of the 2022 Beijing Convention and Its Impact on Romanian Legislation

Recognition of the international effects of the judicial sale of ships in different jurisdictions is of paramount importance to the shipping industry. The need to establish uniform rules to contribute to legal certainty in this area led to the adoption of the first instrument on the international effects of the compulsory sale of ships. The Beijing Convention 2022 establishes uniform rules on the international effects of the compulsory sale of ships, conferring an indisputable right of ownership on the purchaser and subsequent purchasers. The article focuses on the analysis of the conditions that a judicial sale must meet in order to produce international effects: the notice of judicial sale and the issuance of a judicial sale certificate. It also analyzes the procedural aspects of the judicial sale of a ship under the Convention. The article explains the relevant provisions of Romanian legislation in this area, highlighting the differences with the legislation of common law and civil law states. In Romania, from the point of view of civil procedure, the rules on the judicial sale of movable property under common law and the special rules on the seizure of securities, Article 959 et seq. of the New Code of Civil Procedure, are applicable. The article highlights the need to adopt, de lege ferenda, separate provisions on the compulsory sale of ships at national level.