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Project

The Unidroit Convention on stolen or illegally exported cultural objects (1995): a critical analysis (R-6145)

The present doctoral research is intended to vet the intricacies of the regime instated by the 1995 Unidroit Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects. The 1995 Convention is the latest attempt by the international community to find a solution to the illicit traffic of cultural property in times of peace. Following its adoption, it has often been criticised as not instating an adequate solution to the said traffic. The Convention has been further qualified as paper tiger without much effect, and even of dead letter upon arrival. It has, furthermore, been qualified as the other side of the same coin along with the 1970 UNESCO Convention. Consequently, UNESCO has recommended ratifying both the 1970 Convention and the 1995 Convention in conjunction as an effective mean of fighting the illicit traffic in cultural objects. Despite these various recommendations, the Convention has achieved a relatively low amount of ratification, as only thirty-six states have become party to date. The disparities in opinions as to the 1995 Unidroit Convention raise the following question: what merits and pitfalls of the Convention's regime influence decisions of the members of the international community to become party or refrain to become party to the 1995 instrument? Part I of the present contribution analyses the mechanisms instated by the Convention and identifies its flaws. Part II assesses the pros and cons of the Convention's ratification, as perceived by a selection of states, representing a heterogeneous amalgam of property law regimes.
Date:1 Oct 2015 →  30 Sep 2019
Keywords:Environmental Law, Public Law
Disciplines:Law