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The Cape Town Convention and Its Implementation in Spanish Law

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Implementing the Cape Town Convention and the Domestic Laws on Secured Transactions

Part of the book series: Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law ((GSCL,volume 22))

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Abstract

The Cape Town Convention and its Protocols represent a remarkable milestone in the complex harmonizing process on secured transactions laws at an international level. In force since 2006 as regards aircraft objects, it is one of the most successful initiatives in uniform commercial law. In 2013, Spain deposited its instrument of accession to the Cape Town Convention. No Protocol was, nevertheless, ratified simultaneously. Such a staggered accessing process arouses some legal issues that deserve close attention. Even though the accession was completed in 2015 and the Convention as regards aicraft objects entered into force in Spain on 1 March 2016, the Paper tackles such issues and ponders its effects in the interim period. At the same time, it traces the evolution of Spanish laws concerning security interests on transport vehicles within the context of the Cape Town system. Latest reforms and possible conflicts between existing national laws and Convention’s and Protocol’s are discussed. The overview of Spanish experience gives the opportunity to provide some general comments on the importance of a careful national implementation and draws some lessons for future legal actions. A proper implementation casts on two dimensions. On the one hand, a carefully pondered list of declarations and an adequate wording of them. On the other hand, a reform of national system in those aspects likely to hamper, if not duly amended, the full exploitation of the uniform instrument’s expected efficiencies.

Publication elaborated within the framework of the Research Project La modernización del derecho español de garantías mobiliarias para facilitar el acceso al crédito y a la financiación en un contexto internacional (DER2013-46070-P) funded by the Spanish program to promote excellent research.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (hereinafter, Convention) was adopted in Diplomatic Conference that was held in Cape Town, South Africa, on the 16th of November of 2001 under the auspices UNIDROIT (International Institute for the Unification of Private Law nnnn Institut International pour l’Unification du Droit Privé) and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). Pursuant to Article 49(1) CTC, the Convention entered into force on the 1st of March of 2006 together with the Protocol thereto on matters specific to aircraft equipment (hereinafter, Aircraft Protocol).

  2. 2.

    Published in the Official Bulletin (Boletín Oficial del Estado) num. 238, of 4 October of 2013 (www.boe.es).

  3. 3.

    During the second semester of 2015, the accession to the Aircraft Protocol was expected soon. In August 2015, Spanish Government requested the Parliament approval to proceed to deposit the instrument of accession to the Protocol. On August 25, 2015, the Committee on International Affairs of the Spanish Parliament issued its opinion favourable to the granting of the requested approval. As published in the Official Bulletin of Spanish Parliament (BOCG), Serie C: Tratados y Convenios Internacionales, Congreso de los Diputados, X Legislatura, 5 de agosto de 2015, Núm. 207–1, pág. 1, 110/000184 (available at http://www.congreso.es/public_oficiales/L10/CONG/BOCG/C/BOCG-10-C-207-1.PDF)

  4. 4.

    Royal Decree 384/2015, published in the Official Bulletin, BOE num. 144, June 17th, 2015.

  5. 5.

    Following my description of the system in Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, Las garantías mobiliarias sobre equipo aeronáutico en el comercio internacional. El Convenio de Ciudad del Cabo y su Protocolo, Marcial Pons, Madrid, 2012, Chapter I.F (p. 42).

  6. 6.

    Further analysed in Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, ‘The accession by Spain to the Cape Town Convention: a first assessment’, Uniform Law Review, 2014, pp. 1–23.

  7. 7.

    Data on Spanish railways in the European context in the report published by the Railway Observatory available at http://www.observatorioferrocarril.es/archivos/Ofe2011/ObservatorioFerrocarril_2011.pdf

  8. 8.

    On December 7, 2014, besides European Union as a regional economic integration organisation (Article 48 Convention), only Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Malta, Latvia and Spain have accessed to the Convention. And all of them, save for Spain, have also accessed to the Aircraft Protocol.

    Namely, France, Germany, Italy and United Kingdom that rank among the first four economies in the European aerospace industry. Encouragingly, an announcement on UK’s decision to proceed with ratification of both the Convention and Protocol as it relates to aircraft has been published in December 2013. Since further steps are required, ratification is expected in the near future.

  9. 9.

    From the perspective of suretyships, some comments on that social perception in Teresa Rodriguez de las Heras Ballell, ‘Protection from Unfair Suretyships in Spain’, in Aurelia COLOMBI CIACCHI; Stephen WEATHERILL (Eds.), Regulating Unfair Banking Practices in Europe: The Case of Personal Suretyships, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010.

  10. 10.

    The old Decree 419/1969, of 13 of March of 1969, regulating the Registry of Aircraft is in process of reform. The new text would include express provisions regulating interconnection between the Registry of Aircrafts and the Registry of Movable aimed to enable the application of the Cape Town Convention.

  11. 11.

    Teresa Rodriguez de las Heras Ballell, ‘El nuevo Reglamento de matriculación de aeronaves civiles, y el Convenio de Ciudad del Cabo y su Protocolo sobre garantías internacionales en elementos de equipo aeronáutico’, 15 Revista de Derecho de Transporte: Terrestre, Marítimo, Aéreo y Multimodal, 2015, pp. 235–257; and Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, ‘La adhesión de España al Protocolo Aeronáutico del Convenio de Ciudad del Cabo y su implementación: una primera valoración del nuevo Reglamento de Matriculación de Aeronaves’, 2 Bitácora Millenium DIPr 88, 2015 – Part I http://www.millenniumdipr.com/ba-29-la-adhesion-de-espana-al-protocolo-aeronautico-del-convenio-de-ciudad-del-cabo-parte-i, Part II: http://www.millenniumdipr.com/ba-30-la-adhesion-de-espana-al-protocolo-aeronautico-del-convenio-de-ciudad-del-cabo-parte-ii -.

  12. 12.

    Ley sobre Hipoteca Mobiliaria y prenda sin desplazamiento de posesión, of 16 December 1954, published in the Official Bulletin, num 352, 18 of December of 1954.

  13. 13.

    Resolution of 29 of January of 2001, Dirección General de Registros y del Notariado.

  14. 14.

    Article 6 of the Ordinance of 19 of July of 1999 regulating the Registry of Hire Purchase of Movables. – Ordenanza para el Registro de Venta a Plazos de Bienes Muebles -.

  15. 15.

    See Rodríguez de las Heras, Las garantías mobiliarias sobre equipo aeronáutico en el comercio internacional. (n. 3) pp. 51–57.

  16. 16.

    Published in Official Bulletin num 182 of 30 July 1988.

  17. 17.

    Rodrigo Bercovitz Rodríguez-Cano, La cláusula de reserva de dominio. Estudio sobre su naturaleza jurídica en la compraventa a plazos de bienes muebles, Editorial Moneda y Crédito, Madrid, 1971; Ángel Carrasco Perera, and others, Tratado de los Derecho de Garantía, Tomo II: Garantías Mobiliarias, Aranzadi, Cizur Menor, 2008, pp. 416–417.

  18. 18.

    Rodrigo Bercovitz Rodríguez-Cano, ‘El pacto de reserva de dominio y la función de garantía del leasing financiero’, in Ubaldo Nieto Carol, and others, Tratado de Garantías en la Contratación Mercantil, Tomo II, Vol. 1, Civitas, Madrid, 1996, pp. 377–416.

    Antonio Cabanillas Sánchez, ‘La configuración del arrendamiento financiero (leasing) por la Ley de 29 de julio de 1988, en la jurisprudencia y en el Convenio sobre Leasing Internacional’, III Anuario de Derecho Civil, 1991, p. 961; Francisco González Castilla, Leasing financiero mobiliario. Contenido del contrato y atribución del riesgo en la práctica contractual y la jurisprudencia, Civitas, Madrid, 2002, pp. 156–178; María José Morillas Jarillo, ‘Algunos aspectos del leasing de aeronaves en España’, 208 Revista de Derecho Mercantil, 1993, p. 471; Rafael Illescas Ortiz, ‘El leasing: aproximación a los problemas planteados por un nuevo contrato’, 119 Revista de Derecho Mercantil, 1971, p. 74; Rafael Jiménez de Parga, and others, ‘La operación de leasing, ¿es una operación de crédito?’, 31 Revista de Derecho Bancario y Bursátil, 1988, p. 487.

  19. 19.

    According to Article 2 of the Royal Decree 2822/1998, of 23 of December, the aim of the Registry of Vehicles is to identify the owner of the vehicle, its technical characteristics, road-worthiness, completed inspections, compulsory insurance and compliance with all legal obligations.

  20. 20.

    Contracting parties, lawyers, financial entities, detectives, accountants, public entities and any other professional or entity whose business or professional activity is related to the personal property traffic.

  21. 21.

    As stated by Article 34 of the Mortgage Law for the purposes of the Real State Mortgage. Decree of 8 of February of 1946, published in the Official Bulletin num 58, dated on 27 of February of 1946.

  22. 22.

    As clearly advocated by Francisco Javier Gómez Gálligo, ‘Principios hipotecarios de los Registros Mobiliarios’, Revista Crítica de Derecho Inmobiliario, num. 651, March-April 1999.

  23. 23.

    As published in the Official Bulletin num. 306, date on December 23, 1999.

  24. 24.

    Eduardo Vázquez de Castro, La publicidad registral en el tráfico de bienes muebles, Civitas – Thomson Reuters, Madrid, 2012, p. 87.

  25. 25.

    Article XXXI Aircraft Protocol; Article XXIX(1) Protocol on Matters specific to Railway Rolling stock, Article XLI Protocol on Matters specific to Space Assets.

  26. 26.

    Articles 86–88 and 95–96, Ley sobre Hipoteca Mobiliaria y prenda sin desplazamiento de posesión, of 16 December 1954, published in the Official Bulletin, num 352, 18 of December of 1954.

  27. 27.

    Ley 5/2015 de la Jurisdicción Voluntaria, published in BOE num. 158, 3 July 2015.

  28. 28.

    Ley 28/1998, of 13 of July, de venta a Plazos de Bienes Muebles, published in Official Bulletin num 167, dated on 14 of July of 1998.

  29. 29.

    Contrarily, however, Encarna Cordero considers that the wording of the declaration entails that CTC remedies could not be enforced before a Notary. Encarna Cordero, ‘Garantías internacionales sobre elementos de equipo móvil’, Diario La Ley, num 8189, 12 November 2013.

  30. 30.

    Some limits on parties’ freedom to define “default” might be relevant in case of consumer transactions that are not however falling within the scope of application of the Cape Town system. For instance, the non-payment of two fees or the non-payment of the last fee is needed in consumer leasing agreements to declare “default” able to activate some remedies in favour to the creditor.

  31. 31.

    According to Article 64 of Civil Procedure Act, Ley 1/2000 de Enjuiciamiento Civil as cited above.

  32. 32.

    In compliance with rules on auctions as stated in Articles 643–654 Civil Procedure Act, Ley 1/2000 de Enjuiciamiento Civil.

  33. 33.

    As remarked by Encarna Cordero, ‘Garantías internacionales sobre elementos de equipo móvil’, p. 5.

  34. 34.

    Article 676 and following Civil Procedure Act, Ley 1/2000 de Enjuiciamiento Civil.

  35. 35.

    Declaration by the European Community pursuant to Article 55 of the Convention:

    Pursuant to Article 55 of the Cape Town Convention, where the debtor is domiciled in the territory of a Member State of the Community, the Member States bound by Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters will apply Articles 13 and 43 of the Cape Town Convention for interim relief only in accordance with Article 31 of Regulation No 44/2001 as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Communities in the context of Article 24 of the Brussels Convention of 27 September 1968 on jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.

  36. 36.

    Manuel Ignacio Feliu Rey, La prohibición del pacto comisorio y la opción en garantía, Civitas, Madrid 1995, pp. 74, 75; Federico de Castro y Bravo, ‘La acción pauliana y la responsabilidad patrimonial. Estudio de los artículos 1911 y 1111 del Código Civil’ Revista de Derecho Privado, 1932, p. 193; Francisco Capilla Roncero, La responsabilidad patrimonial universal y el fortalecimiento de la protección del crédito, Fundación Universitaria, Jerez, 1989, p. 206.

  37. 37.

    The traditional prohibition of pacto comisorio is however limited by two exceptions: financial collateral arrangements and pledges of credit rights. In both cases, public auction is not required. Royal Decree-Law 5/2005, of March 11, which implements in Spain Directive 2002/47/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 6, 2002, on financial collateral arrangements, regulates, among other matters, financial collateral arrangements.

  38. 38.

    As reasoned as well in Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, ‘The accession by Spain to the Cape Town Convention: a first assessment’ and previously in Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, Las garantías mobiliarias sobre equipo aeronáutico en el comercio internacional.

  39. 39.

    Ángel Carrasco Perera, and others, Tratado de los Derecho de Garantía, Tomo II: Garantías Mobiliarias, p. 208.

  40. 40.

    Reglero Campos, ‘El pacto comisorio’ I-XVI Aranzadi Civil, 2007, pp. 1907, 1921–1922.

  41. 41.

    Berend Crans, ‘The Implications of the EU Accession to the Cape Town Convention’ 35 Air and Space Law 1, 2010, p. 7.

  42. 42.

    On 18 December 2014 the European Union’s instrument of approval to the Luxembourg Protocol to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on Matters Specific to Railway Rolling Stock, adopted at Luxembourg on 23 February 2007, albeit not yet in force, was deposited with UNIDROIT. In this case, the European Union has made a declaration under Article XXII(2) of the Luxembourg Protocol.

  43. 43.

    Interestingly, the European Union declared that “at the time of accession to the Aircraft Protocol, the Community will not make a declaration pursuant to Article XXX(1) concerning the application of Article VIII nor will it make any of the declarations permitted under Article XXX(2) and (3). The Member States keep their competence concerning the rules of substantive law as regards insolvency”.

  44. 44.

    Article 56 of Law 22/2003, of 9 of July, on Insolvency (Ley Concursal) as drafted by Law 17/2014, of 30 of September, adopting a number of urgent measures on refinancing and restructuring business debt (Ley 17/2014, de 30 de septiembre, por la que se adoptan medidas urgentes en materia de refinanciación y reestructuración de deuda empresarial), published in the Official Bulletin of 1st of October of 2014 and in force since 2nd of October of 2014.

  45. 45.

    The enactment of the Law 17/2014 derives from the legislative processing as an ordinary law of the Royal Decree Law 4/2014, March 7, adopting urgent measures in refinancing arrangements and debt restructuration. BOE 1 October 2014.

  46. 46.

    Royal Decree Law 1/2015, February 27, BOE 28 February 2015, introducing a ‘fresh start’ (or ‘second chance’) solution in insolvency laws and Law 9/2015, May 25, BOE 26 May 2015. ‘Fresh start’ solutions had been previously introduced, for certain debtors and under specific conditions, by Law 14/2013 providing support to entrepreneurs and promoting internationalization. The extent of the ‘fresh start’ is nonetheless limited. The debtor was required, among other requirements, to entirely pay off secured creditors (mortgage and pledges). Under the RDL 1/2015, the ‘fresh start’ model has been substantially amended. Interestingly, the total payment to privileged creditors is not always required for the cancelation of debts. Other formulas are laid down to allow the debtor being eligible for ‘fresh start’ benefits. Finally, Law 25/2015, July 28, on second chance, reduction of financial burder and other social measures, BOE 29 July 2015.

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  1. Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, University Carlos III of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell

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Correspondence to Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell .

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  1. Faculty of Law, Gakushuin University, Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Souichirou Kozuka

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Rodríguez de las Heras Ballell, T. (2017). The Cape Town Convention and Its Implementation in Spanish Law. In: Kozuka, S. (eds) Implementing the Cape Town Convention and the Domestic Laws on Secured Transactions. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 22. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46470-1_10

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