Public and private features of the Cape Town Convention

Abstract

The mechanism of the Cape Town Convention (CTC) – with its two instruments approach, public and private actors, the declarations system, and involving a single International Registry with global reach – is a complex one. Both public and the private features in the CTC interface closely to achieve the objective of facilitating asset-based financing at the international level across national borders. The public features of the Convention include the International Registry System with treaty status, the declaration system, the designated entry points and the jurisdiction provisions. They essentially serve the purpose of enabling the remedies set out in the CTC and the Protocol to be exercised in an appropriate and effective manner. The private features of the Convention include the remedies themselves, including the default remedies, remedies of speedy relief, self-help remedies, and remedies in insolvency. They are exercised by private parties in their own right. The purpose of the following article is to focus on the duality of public and private features in the CTC.