Tag Archives: heritage

Upcoming conference: Recent Developments in Art and Cultural Property Law

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 […]

Behind the scenes of the Subhash Kapoor operation

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 […]

Art restitution and the Duke of Wellington

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 […]

Reforms to Ancient Monuments and Listed Buildings law in Wales

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 […]

US action for restitution of Guelph Treasure

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 […]

Earthquakes and archaeology: the case of Christchurch, New Zealand

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, […]

Further attempts at protecting Syrian heritage

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 […]

Upcoming Study Forum: Saturday 18 October 2014

Posted on: September 26, 2014 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper

As previously hinted at, there will be an Institute of Art and Law Study Forum in London on Saturday, October 18 2014, from 10.00 to 5.00. The Study Forum will provide a unique foray into the different areas of law that intersect with art and cultural heritage. The presenters at the event and the titles to their papers […]

Acts of Grace Seminar on 4th September

Posted on: August 8, 2014 by Ruth Redmond-Cooper

What do the eighteenth-century tapestries of France’s Château de Versainville, the Hereford Pike and a Cézanne watercolour have in common? Well, they have all been the subject of voluntary acts of return to their original owners by the institutions holding them. And they will be discussed in the upcoming seminar entitled Acts of Grace – Displaced Cultural […]

Kent shipwreck divers plead guilty

Posted on: May 20, 2014 by Richard Harwood QC

David Knight and Edward Huzzey, both from Sandgate, admitted to 19 offences between them, contrary to section 236 and section 237 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 for having failed to declare valuable items taken from shipwrecks. Items were taken from shipwrecks off the Kent coast, with the first known objects removed in 2001. The […]