Paving the way to recognising foreign judicial sales of ships. A comparative analysis of judicial sale proceedings in selected jurisdictions

Abstract

The extent to which a state will recognise the effects of a foreign judicial sale of a ship is subject to its private international law rules, which consist of various conditions for recognition. The application of these conditions may be mediated by the principles informing domestic sales. Thus, to understand better how national recognition mechanisms work, this article undertakes a comparative legal analysis of sale proceedings in selected jurisdictions to examine whether these principles fundamentally diverge and may impair the recognition. Varying principles exist as regards six aspects of the sale proceeding. In light of the prevailing conditions for recognition of foreign judicial sales, it is inferred that the principles concerning four sale aspects may resurface at the recognition stage, putting in danger the free circulation of the ship purchaser’s title. These four sale aspects include the ship’s location, the notification of sale, the variance in the standard sale, and the extra protection given to high-ranking  creditors in the distribution of proceeds. In contrast, the principles in respect of the remaining two sale aspects, viz., the time to initiate a sale and the approach to obtaining the best  possible price, though substantially divergent, may not impede the recognition.