Posted on: February 19, 2016 by Emily Gould
We tend to think of street art as highly contemporary – edgy, modern and up to the minute in its commentary on the social and political controversies of the day. But what about cave paintings, medieval etchings, scrawls on the walls of the ancient city of Pompeii? The once-widespread notion that graffiti and street art […]
Posted on: January 14, 2016 by Emily Gould
Next month (February 2016) the new theft guidelines announced by the Sentencing Council last October will come into force. For the first time, the significant harm which can result from crimes like theft of public artworks, stripping of lead from historic churches and the activities of ‘nighthawkers’ is being officially recognized within the English criminal […]
Posted on: November 18, 2015 by Alexander Herman
Officially launched last month, the UK’s Emergency Heritage Management Project will look to help preserve and recover cultural objects and edifices in Iraq that are under threat. In the words of the press release: “It will create a team of local experts to assess, document and stabilise afflicted sites in Iraq, and help begin the process […]
Posted on: October 29, 2015 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
We are happy to announce an upcoming one-day conference to be held in London on 28th November 2015 entitled Recent Developments in Art and Cultural Property Law (pdf flyer here). The conference will cover a number of new and exciting legal trends in the area involving: the new sentencing guidelines for heritage crimes the new Museums Association Code of […]
Posted on: July 30, 2015 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper
An interesting and in-depth article appeared last week in the New York Times about Subhash Kapoor’s antiquities smuggling operation. This involved looted antiquities that had been taken from a number of cultural and religious sites throughout India, then sold to unsuspecting buyers. These were buyers of importance, including the National Gallery of Australia, which had purchased […]
Posted on: July 24, 2015 by Alexander Herman
For those in or around London this summer, it may be worthwhile to stop by Apsley House at Hyde Park Corner to see the former residence of the Duke of Wellington (known as ‘Number 1 London’). But what many people don’t know is that the Iron Duke was a formidable proponent of art restitution. Following his victory […]
Posted on: May 11, 2015 by Richard Harwood QC
The Historic Environment (Wales) Bill was introduced into the Welsh Assembly on 1st May 2015. It proposes a variety of changes to listed building, monuments and historic environment law. These include for listed buildings: A requirement to consult on the proposed listing of buildings Interim protection during such consultations, and compensation if the building is not […]
Posted on: February 27, 2015 by Alexander Herman
A complaint was filed this week in a US court which seeks the return of the Guelph Treasure, a famous collection of German medieval items, currently held by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. The complaint is being brought by descendants of the one-time Jewish owners of the treasure, who had to part with it in 1935. The collection had […]
Posted on: February 16, 2015 by Rosemary Baird
On 4 September 2010 an earthquake of 7.1 magnitude struck the Canterbury region of New Zealand. It was followed by thousands of aftershocks, including one of 6.3 magnitude that struck the city of Christchurch on 22 February 2011. It caused widespread destruction of buildings and 185 deaths. A national state of emergency was declared. Today, almost four years later, […]
Posted on: November 19, 2014 by Alexander Herman
The US Congress will soon be entertaining a Bill, proposed last Thursday, that seeks to offer protection for endangered Syrian cultural objects and that would set up a Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection (what American cultural heritage lawyer Rick St. Hilaire calls a cultural property protection “czar”). These are of course welcome developments. The protection […]