Posted on: April 13, 2018 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes
A few months ago we discussed here the restrictions on the ivory trade in the UK and the changes that were brewing following a wide-reaching public consultation issued by the British government. As a result, the ivory trade in the UK is virtually banned, apart from five stringently-regulated exceptions. Following over 70,000 responses, it is […]
Posted on: February 9, 2018 by Holly Woodhouse
The current intellectual property framework in the United Kingdom is underpinned by various international agreements, but is fundamentally shaped by EU Directives transposed into UK law. With the Government yet to outline how transposed EU law will operate within the UK following the repeal of the European Communities Act 1972, the fate of the UK’s […]
Posted on: January 24, 2018 by Julia Rodrigues Casella Hommes
An article published last Saturday in The Times has raised some interesting points about the restrictions on the ivory trade and the challenges to proper enforcement of current regulations. This is a topic that has been touched upon previously by several other sources, including The Guardian and The Telegraph. At the core of the restrictions on […]
Posted on: July 31, 2017 by Emily Gould
Rarely a day goes by, it seems, without another concerning and saddening story about cultural heritage destruction. Whether it is the devastation of ancient sites in war-ravaged states such as Syria, Libya or Yemen or the ruin of yet another village church in the UK through lead theft, the loss is felt far and wide, […]
Posted on: February 23, 2017 by Emily Gould
*Update: On the day of going to press, we later discovered that, with impressive speed and efficiency, the Bill received Royal Assent, so look out for further posts on the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Act 2017! As of this Monday (20 February) the UK is now one step closer to ratifying the 1954 Hague Convention […]
Posted on: November 5, 2016 by Emily Gould
Following our post earlier this week on the second reading in the House of Commons of the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill, we were interested to read an article in The Times the next day by Sir Edward Garnier, QC, MP and former solicitor-general.* Sir Edward had rehearsed, at some length during the Commons debate, the […]
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 7, 2016 by Emily Gould
It was interesting to see that the judgment in the important ‘Old Flo’ case on which we reported in July 2015 has now been upheld by the Court of Appeal. You might recall the story. Old Flo – or Draped Seated Woman, to give Henry Moore’s 1,500 kg bronze figure her proper title – was […]
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: 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 […]