2008 Cultural Heritage Legal Summary

Abstract

In the past year acceptance of the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict received significant impetus with the vote of the U. S. Senate to ratify the main Convention and the drafting of legislation by the United Kingdom and New Zealand that would implement the Convention and both Protocols. Efforts by the United States to continue implementation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property continued with import restrictions imposed under the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (1983). At the end of the year, the dispute between Peru and Yale took an ominous turn, while new amendments enacted by the U. S. Congress in January 2008 to facilitate the recovery of property belonging to state sponsors of terrorism in the United States by victims of terrorism continue to cause problems for several leading American cultural institutions.     

2010 cultural heritage legal summary

Abstract

The year 2010 was a relatively quiet one for legal developments with respect to archaeological heritage. Some court decisions that were expected this year, such as that concerning foreign sovereign immunity for artifacts on loan from Iran to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, did not materialize, while other disputes remain on appeal, such as that involving the disposition of 500,000 gold and silver coins taken from an early 19th century Spanish shipwreck by Odyssey Marine. One of the most closely watched cases, the trial in Italy of the former J. Paul Getty Museum curator, Marion True, ended inconclusively when time ran out for the prosecution. Nonetheless, recovery and restitution of cultural objects that were brought illegally into the United States continued, as did controversies concerning the bilateral agreements concluded between the United States and other nations, pursuant to the 1983 Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act, the United States' legislation implementing the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The following review focuses on legal developments primarily in the United States, as the United States participates in international treaty regimes to protect cultural heritage.     

Current status of the draft UNESCO/DAOLOS Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage

Abstract

There is at present no international legal instrument of comprehensive scope and general application that adequately regulates the management of the underwater cultural heritage. That is why a Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage is being prepared jointly by UNESCO and the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea (DAOLOS).This note focuses on the major issues dealt with by the future. Convention and the current status of that instrument.     

Archaeology in the Context of War: Legal Frameworks for Protecting Cultural Heritage during Armed Conflict

International law provides for a framework for protecting cultural heritage during armed conflict and for punishing those who transgress these principles. If understood within its limitations of dependence on state ratification and enforcement, international law protects cultural heritage by providing guidelines to those who wish to conform and by punishing after the fact those who deliberately destroy cultural heritage. Recent movement toward ratification of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its protocols by the major military powers should afford greater protection to cultural heritage in future conflicts.     

Cultural Property Protection in the Context of Military Operations: The Case of Uruk,Iraq

Abstract

This paper deals with the use of military or militarized experts for cultural property protection (CPP) during times of conflict. CPP activities generally take place within a juridical framework that gives obligations for all parties involved, primarily the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, and attention is paid to various implications and challenges that occur when implementing military CPP obligations within this framework. To illustrate matters, the paper details a speci?c case study from the author’s own ?eld experience in the safeguarding of the archaeological site of Uruk in Iraq. Aspects, including economic, legal, ?nancial, and educational implications, are presented and these are especially relevant since they apply (to an extent) to other situations, such as the recent cultural disasters in Egypt, Libya, and Syria. The Uruk case study is used to suggest a number of key elements that are vital for the implementation of an effective CPP strategy in the context of military operations. Overall, the importance of international cooperation, training, and education, along with the assistance of civil reach-back capabilities, is emphasized. The paper argues that an effective way to protect Cultural Property during armed conflicts is through military channels and with military logistics and tools. To ful?l CPP in agreement with International Humanitarian Law (IHL) joint preparations in peacetime are necessary. The handover of military initiated CPP projects to civil authorities has to take place as soon as the situation permits. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations.     

Trade,culture and the European Union cultural exception

ABSTRACT

The article examines how the European Union has addressed the ‘trade and culture debate’ in its international trade agreements. From a cultural exception approach based on an attempt to detach culture from trade provisions, the European Union economic agreements seem to evolve to a broader and more holistic position aiming to promote cultural exchanges through cooperation, while still safeguarding policy space in cultural matters through its traditional cultural exception. The article provides an overview of the European positions to defend the specificity of the audio-visual services sector at the multilateral (World Trade Organization Agreements), regional and bilateral levels. It also examines how the implementation of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions has led the European Union to negotiate cultural cooperation provisions in parallel to some of its recent bilateral and regional trade agreements and the way this Convention may impact the understanding of the ‘trade and culture debate’.     

Binding Gestures: a customary norm regarding the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?

ABSTRACT

In March of 2017, officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security publicly acknowledged a proposed policy of forced separation of unauthorized migrant children from their parents. Conceived as a deterrent to other families that might yet contemplate crossing the U.S. southern border, the proposal sought to formalize and expand on similar practices of deterrence already implemented on a more ad hoc basis. By way of a brief examination of the internal logics and implications of deterrence thinking in this context and more broadly, fundamental incompatibilities with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child are revealed. Although the U.S. has not ratified the Convention, I argue that it is nonetheless beholden to a robust and binding customary norm of international law obliging all states to respect its key provisions, including rights that would prohibit the separation of children from their parents as a preemptive measure to deter unauthorized migration.     

The meaning of 1970 for the acquisition of archaeological objects

Abstract

Many museum and professional associations, particularly in the United States, have adopted a 1970 standard for the acquisition of archaeological materials–that is, in recognition of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, archaeological objects should be documented has outside of their country of origin before 1970 or have been exported legally after 1970. This article explores the extent to which this standard has been adopted, its influence on restitutions and claims for restitution of archaeological objects, and the policies that this standard attempts to promote.     

Archeology in Conflict and UNESCO: Legal Aspects

This article analyzes the obligations under the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols related to the protection of cultural property in occupied territory. It goes on to provide practical examples of the return of cultural property from Iraq to Kuwait following the entry of Iraqi military forces into Kuwait in August 1990 and the legal framework of the return of Iraqi cultural property under operative paragraph 7 of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1483, adopted on 22 May 2003.     

Handcraft as Cultural Diplomacy: The 1968 Mexico Cultural Olympics and U.S. Participation in the International Exhibition of Popular Arts

Mexican post-revolutionary cultural institutions excelled at implementing Mexican art and popular arts as key elements in cultural diplomacy. However, while there is abundant research regarding these arts and their inclusion in international exhibitions during the first part of the twentieth century, there is little research on their role in international cultural diplomacy during the second half of that century. In the first part of this article I present a historiographical appraisal of the 1968 Mexican Cultural Olympiad and the resolutions of the “First Latin American Seminar on Popular Arts and Crafts” sponsored by UNESCO in Mexico City in 1965. In the second, I examine the case of U.S. participation in the “Exposición Internacional de Artesanías Populares” (International Exhibition of Popular Arts), which was part of the 1968 Cultural Olympiad’s programme – largely neglected by the historiography of the XIX Olympics – to explain how popular arts were made to perform as agents of cultural diplomacy in Mexico and the U.S. during the Cold War. In addition, I argue that U.S. participation in this exhibition also reveals negotiations and redefinitions of the concepts of handcraft and arte popular, and the economic and social situation of their makers in the United States.     

Using History to Teach Microcomputers

Abstract

Delegate level analysis of the U.S. Constitutional Convention has been limited because the Convention did not record delegate votes. In this article, we introduce the Constitutional Convention Research Group Dataset, which contains 5,121 inferred delegate votes on 620 substantive roll calls at the Convention. The Constitutional Convention Research Group Dataset represents a significant improvement over previous datasets such as those compiled by McDonald (1958) and Dougherty and Heckelman (2009), and datasets based on votes recorded for state blocs (Jillson 1981, 1988).     

Digging Franco's Trenches: An Archaeological Investigation of a Nationalist Position from the Spanish Civil War

Abstract

As part of a project on the archaeology of the civil war and dictatorship in Spain, a Nationalist position was excavated in the village of Abánades (Guadalajara), which was occupied between March 1937 and the end of the war. The sector that was excavated comprised a trench, two dugouts, and a stone-and-concrete covered trench. The findings reveal more about daily life in General Franco's trenches, while they also offer insights into totalitarian ideology, international involvement in the conflict, and the war economy.     

2006 Cultural Heritage Legal Summary

Abstract

During the past year; there has been continued incremental progress in the ratification and implementation of international conventions, particularly the 1970 UNESCO Convention. Countries of origin, particularly Italy and Greece, have become even more active in seeking the restitution of looted antiquities, as with the ongoing trial of former Getty curator Marion True and agreements with several U. S. museums for the return of numerous artifacts. The litigation concerning Iranian artifacts in various U. S. institutions has become even more complex, however, and the outcome is still uncertain. Finally, United States case law, particularly in the western part of the country, is pointing out some of the weaknesses in federal laws designed to protect archaeological sites and artifacts on federal land.     

Ancient coins,find spots,and import restrictions: A critique of arguments made in the Ancient Coin Collectors Guild’s “test case”

Abstract

The Ancient Coin Collectors Guild (ACCG) has launched multiple legal challenges aimed at undermining import restrictions on ancient coins into the United States in bilateral agreements with foreign countries. One key component of the ACCG’s argument is that the State Department has inappropriately restricted certain types of coins according to where they were made rather than where they are found, as mandated by the 1983 Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act. Although the ACCG has thus far been unsuccessful, it has not been pointed out that existing import restrictions on coins, in fact, have been written to include coins that tended to circulate locally and that are found primarily within the borders of the country with which the bilateral agreement is made. The ACCG’s argument is thus on shaky ground. As the ACCG continues to press ahead with new litigation, it is worth drawing attention to realities and probabilities of ancient coin circulation as they pertain to protected coins.     

Debating heritage authenticity: kastom and development at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre

In October 2003, 28 cultural expressions from around the world were proclaimed Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, complementing the adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. This proclamation has been part of the broader remit of the international organisation to protect the world’s cultural diversity from modernity and globalisation. Inherent in this is an underlying notion of cultural authenticity, implying that certain expressions, which are considered to be endangered and therefore in need of institutional protection, constitute ‘original’ and ‘pure’ manifestations of cultural identity. Taking forward debates on the safeguarding of intangible heritage, this paper examines cultural authenticity in the context of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre, the principal cultural organisation, museum and research institution of the Melanesian archipelago. The proclamation of the practice of sandroing (sand drawing) as a masterpiece of intangible heritage, and other heritage interventions taking place in Vanuatu and recorded during fieldwork in 2007, provide an interesting perspective for examining how global cultural initiatives are negotiated by local constituencies. Here, heritage preservation is coupled with calls for development, which invites new ways for thinking about authenticity not according to predefined criteria, but with respect to local understandings.     

Local Resources,Global Heritage: An Introduction to the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage

On January 2, 2009, the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage entered into force, setting an international precedent for the protection and preservation of underwater archaeological resources and providing guidelines for site management and responsible investigation. Historically, submerged cultural resources, particularly shipwrecks, have been exploited primarily for their potential monetary value. Over the last 50 years archaeologists have challenged this perception, demonstrating the cultural and scientific value of submerged cultural resources.     

2011 Cultural heritage legal summary

Abstract

This article summarizes the legal developments during 2011 that affect archaeological heritage. Among the more significant developments were advances in and challenges to the use of international law in deterring the trade in undocumented antiquities and questions of whether artifacts on loan to U.S. institutions from Iran could be used to satisfy judgments against Iran awarded to victims of terrorist bombings. Finally, the article presents a preliminary assessment of the impact of the "Arab Spring" conflicts on cultural heritage preservation.     

Errors of Fact and Errors of Representation: Response to Shepherd and Haber's Critique of the World Archaeological Congress

Abstract

The llisu dam in the Kurdish region of Turkey, if built, would displace up to 78,000 women, children and men, causing immense destruction of culture, past and present. The article outlines some major issues arising as a result of work by an archaeologist to examine the dam's cultural impacts, work that has supported villagers opposing the dam and aiming to contribute to campaigns in Europe. Some of the work was part of the successful campaigning from 2000–2002 that resulted in the collapse of the consortium of companies then planning to build the dam. As a new consortium revives the project, an assessment is needed: where archaeologists are working with grassroots communities who are fighting for survival, mutual accountability is required. But how difficult is this to achieve? In particular, women's case against the dam is shown to be vital in an approach that requires both objectivity and commitment from archaeologists.     

Cooperation is the Key: We Can Protect the Underwater Cultural Heritage

The 2001 UNESCO Convention represents the will of the international community to establish a legal instrument specific to the world’s threatened underwater cultural heritage. This article introduces its history and purpose, and the geographical distribution of ratifications. It highlights UNESCO’s facilitating role and advocacy for the Convention, and the initiatives of the ICOMOS International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage, the Society for Historical Archaeology, and the Advisory Council on Underwater Archaeology in support of its development, ratification, implementation, and the adoption of its Annex as a “best practices” document, even where ratification is unlikely. It provides a context for articles that follow.