Tag Archives: UNESCO

The year ahead

Posted on: January 9, 2023 by Alexander Herman

It is dangerous to make predictions. Too precise and they can be proved wrong. Too vague and they tend not to offer much of use. So it is a difficult line to tread… What do we have to expect from 2023 in the world of art law? If we consider the big developments from last […]

Recent report on the illicit antiquities trade receives mixed response

Posted on: June 10, 2020 by Charlotte Dunn

A UNESCO-backed research project into the illicit trade in cultural property in Germany has recently released its final report. The ‘ILLICID Project’, launched by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, aimed to increase understanding of illicit trafficking networks and financial flows linked to organised crime and terrorism. However, the findings of the final […]

A Round-Up of Recent Historic Environment Developments

Posted on: March 27, 2020 by Rebecca Hawkes-Reynolds

The fate of Stonehenge and the A303 has reared its ugly head again, or perhaps not. When the Chancellor announced the Budget on 11 March 2020 he confirmed the Government’s continued commitment to the Stonehenge scheme, saying it is “going to get it done”. However, this does not mean the scheme has been given the […]

Judicial review undertaken for HMS Victory salvage

Posted on: April 10, 2019 by Rebecca Hawkes-Reynolds

Treasure, bounty, pirates – these words conjure up romantic adventures in peoples’ minds, none the more so than when they relate to historically important wrecks. An example of this is the HMS Victory which sank in 1744 in the Channel on its way back from a mission to relieve British ships blocked in the River […]

French report calls for massive restitution of African artefacts

Posted on: November 28, 2018 by Alexander Herman

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron received the report he commissioned in March on the restitution of African artefacts currently held in French Museums. The commission followed the President’s speech in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, delivered one year ago today, in which he had called for “the conditions to be met within five years for the […]

Resolving art-related disputes: the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms

Posted on: June 19, 2018 by Emily Gould

This blog was posted by Emily Gould on behalf of the author, Alice Trioschi, representative for ADR Art & Cultural Heritage, National and International Arbitral Chamber of Milan It was reported earlier last month that the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI) and The Hague-based Authentication In Art (AIA) had announced the imminent opening of a new […]

UNESCO weighs in over potential billion-dollar shipwrecked treasure

Posted on: May 5, 2018 by Paul Stevenson

Last Friday, the UN cultural agency UNESCO called on Colombia not to exploit commercially the three centuries’ old wreck of the Spanish galleon, San Jose, hailed by some as “the holy grail of shipwrecks”. Reports suggest that the San Jose contains a cargo worth billions of dollars. Colombian authorities reportedly intend to recover the San […]

US leaves UNESCO

Posted on: October 23, 2017 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes

Following the series of controversial decisions for which the Trump administration has come to be known, this month the US Department of State has notified the UNESCO Director-General of its decision to withdraw from the organisation. Amongst the reasons presented are ‘concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO’, ‘the need for fundamental reform in the organisation’ […]

New Convention to tackle cultural property crime

Posted on: May 18, 2017 by Emily Gould

Tomorrow (Friday 19th May), a new convention intended to tackle international cultural property crime will be opened for signature by the Council of Europe (the ‘CoE’, Europe’s leading human rights organisation, including 47 member states, set up to promote democracy and protect human rights and the rule of law in Europe; not to be confused with […]

UK Customs seizure of looted Libyan statue

Posted on: October 22, 2015 by Janet Ulph

A dispute over a highly attractive marble statue sparked headlines in the national press in early September 2015. It had been seized by Customs officers and kept in the British Museum for safekeeping during the legal proceedings. The District Judge, John Zani, had examined the statue there before coming to a decision that it had been […]