Court-approved private sales of ships and vessels : an analysis

Abstract

This thesis provides a detailed analysis of court-approved sale, as an efficient enforcement procedure, since its introduction in 2006. It further seeks to establish the importance of this procedural enforcement mechanism, while comparing it to the parallel mechanism found in common-law jurisdictions.

The first chapter seeks to establish the nature of court-approved sale as judicial sale. It provides the reader with an analysis of the characteristic features of a judicial sale, and of its function within the admiralty procedure of providing the purchaser with a free and unencumbered title.

The second chapter provides an analysis of judicial sale by auction, the first judicial sale to serve as an enforcement mechanism. This chapter provides a detailed description of the procedural steps involved in a judicial sale by auction. It further seeks to compare the judicial sale by auction of vessels with admiralty judicial sales in the United Kingdom and Singapore, with the aim of deducing possible shortcomings in the judicial auction of vessels in Malta.

The third chapter provides an analysis of the equivalent procedure of court- approved sales in the United Kingdom and Singapore, referred to as directed juridical sales. This chapter refers to foreign judgments and legislation with the aim of providing an insight into why these jurisdictions have limited the application of directed judicial sales.

The fourth chapter offers a detailed analysis of the procedural mechanism of court- approved sales. This is achieved through the examination of article 358 et sequitur of the Code of Organisation and Civil Procedure, Chapter 12 of the Laws of Malta. In addition, this chapter seeks to analyse case law pertaining to the subject matter with the aim of providing insight into how Maltese courts have interpreted this statutory procedure. The final chapter seeks to propose possible amendments with the aim of further strengthening the position of the procedure of court-approved sales in Malta.