Consent to UN Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships

Decision

The European Parliament gave its consent to the conclusion, on behalf of the EU, of the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships (file C10‑0321/2025) and instructed its President to forward that position to the Council, the Commission, Member State governments and parliaments and the UNCITRAL Secretariat; the Committee on Legal Affairs adopted the report on 24.2.2026 with a final committee vote of 22 in favour.

What Changes

The Convention establishes a harmonised regime under which a judicial sale that confers "full title" is recognised by Contracting States, requires the ship registry to deregister or transfer registration at the buyer's request, prohibits seizure for pre-existing claims extinguished by the sale and grants exclusive jurisdiction to the courts of the State of sale to decide objections.

Who Is Affected

The measure affects Member States and Contracting States, ship registries and operators, buyers and creditors, and stakeholders such as seafarers, suppliers and flag State authorities.