Posted on: November 2, 2016 by Emily Gould
As promised in our blog post in early July, we wanted to keep you updated on the progress through Parliament of the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill, which will enable the UK, finally, to ratify the 1954 Hague Convention. The Bill received its second reading in the House of Commons this week (31st October). It […]
Posted on: September 13, 2016 by Emily Gould
A fascinating and extremely productive day was had by all those attending the Heritage Crime Workshop organised by Historic England and Leicestershire Police last Friday (9th September). The topic was the theft of metal from historic sites and buildings. Delegates ranged from enforcement officers to representatives from the church, experts from heritage organisations and leading […]
Posted on: August 1, 2016 by Alexander Herman
We had earlier this year reported on a claim lodged at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg by an independent Athenian association seeking the return of the Parthenon Marbles. The claim of the Syllogos Ton Athinaion (or ‘Athenians’ Association’) has been rejected by the Court on admissibility grounds. In a short ruling dated 23 June 2016 […]
Posted on: July 4, 2016 by Emily Gould
It was heartening to see the strong support for the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill 2016 when it was debated at the Committee Stage in the House of Lords last week (28 June). The Lords discussed at length, and with some passion, the amendments tabled by a number of peers. The proposals for changes came […]
Posted on: June 22, 2016 by Emily Gould
Yesterday’s workshop on art crime at Queen Mary, University of London, which we mentioned on the blog last week, was a fascinating event, providing much food for thought. The workshop (part of an AHRC-funded series) focussed mainly on art theft, seeking to answer key questions such as: what is the prevalence of art theft internationally? […]
Posted on: May 19, 2016 by Alexander Herman
At long last… It was announced in the Queen’s speech yesterday that the UK Parliament would see the introduction of a bill to ratify the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. This is a positive sign and one that had been hinted at (with little more) by […]
Posted on: May 11, 2016 by Alexander Herman
An important piece of legislation, brought into force around the time of the UK’s accession to the UNESCO 1970 Convention in 2002, has at last been used as the basis for a conviction. The statute, the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003, sets out an offence for dishonestly dealing in tainted cultural objects. The term ‘tainted’ for […]
Posted on: April 25, 2016 by Emily Gould
The launch event for the new Museums Code of Ethics took place at the Wellcome Collection last Friday, 22nd April. You would be forgiven for thinking that a Friday afternoon event to explore an ethics code might not be the greatest crowd-puller; but on this occasion, you’d be much mistaken. Almost 150 delegates came to […]
Posted on: April 20, 2016 by Emily Gould
It was heartening to read the report by Cahal Milmo in the i newspaper last week about the first application of the new Sentencing Guidelines for theft offences. The guidelines urge courts to take into account the special nature of heritage assets when sentencing offenders for theft crimes, giving official recognition to the devastating harm […]
Posted on: April 19, 2016 by Alexander Herman
Yesterday, IAL Senior Researcher Emily Gould and I were fortunate enough to be invited by Historic England‘s Mark Harrison to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Protection of Cultural Heritage meeting at the Palace of Westminster. This is the group launched last November, one of the priorities of which is to lobby within the UK […]