We are pleased to announce that the latest issue (Vol XXV, 2) of our journal Art Antiquity & Law is available now, please see below for details on subscriptions and access. 

Paul Kearns provides the readers with a comprehensive panorama of the international legal regulations on freedom of artistic expression, a fundamental but much overlooked and violated human right. After discussing the motivations and challenges that surround its regulation, Kearns focuses on the latest report on the topic from a United Nations Special Rapporteur and the implications from its findings. 

Meir Heller, Keren Barth Abelow and Talila Dvir deliver a tour de force analysis of the Israeli practices when it comes to claims for the return of cultural heritage. The authors discuss how cultural institutions were born in Israel as well as the comprehensive legal framework in that jurisdiction concerning museums and their collections, possible defences to claims for the return of stolen artefacts, as well as the laws concerning archives, antiquities and loans of cultural objects. The article also includes an in-depth examination of Israeli case law.

Elizabeth Pearson discusses the ‘embarrassingly out of kilter’ Australian law on Indigenous cultural heritage, namely the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 (WA), in light of the recent tragic destruction of 46,000-year-old aboriginal sacred sites in the Juukan Gorge, in Western Australia, in order to expand mining in the area. The author explains how the existing legal framework was ineffective in protecting these heritage sites and hopes the new parliamentary inquiry on the matter will be a catalyst for legislative reform. 

This issue is further enriched by case notes from Charlotte Dunn, Stephanie Drawdy and Rebecca Hawkes-Reynolds on the disputes involving the challenge to the ivory ban in the UK, the Berg Holocaust restitution claim in the Netherlands concerning former gallery stock from art dealer David Katz, and the controversy over the definition of a ‘building’ and the application of the ‘listed building consent’ requirement in the case of two 18th century urns which were removed from a property and sold at auction.

This issue of Art Antiquity & Law is available now. Hard copy subscriptions are available directly via our website. Alternatively, digital only or digital + hardcopy subscriptions are available in partnership with Hein. Moreover, previous issues or individual articles and case notes published from 1996 to 2018 can also be purchased separately here. 

Lastly, in case you are interested in contributing to the journal, our guidelines and vetting procedures can be accessed here.