At the request of UNESCO, Jiri Toman, Acting Director of the Henry Dunant Institute in Geneva has written this detailed analysis of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict - still the only universal legal instrument in this field. The author has used the materials that emerged from the preparatory work for the Convention and has taken numerous examples from UNESCO’s records about the application of the Convention in conflicts over the last 40 years to illustrate this article-by-article commentary on the Convention itself, the Regulations for its Execution, and its Protocol. The author establishes parallels with other international legal instruments such as the 1977 Protocols Additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions or the other UNESCO conventions relating to cultural heritage and puts forward ideas for a more general study of the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict and the legal and practical ways of achieving this. This work should satisfy the expectations of politicians and those responsible for culture in the countries that are States Parties to the Convention, now numbering more than 80, and of those that are considering becoming parties to it, given the increasing calls being made for the international community to have greater powers to defend the cultural heritage from attacks to which it is too often exposed in armed conflicts today.

Charting in detail the evolution of the international rules on the protection of historic and artistic sites and objects from destruction and plunder in war, this 2006 book analyses in depth their many often-overlapping provisions. It serves as a comprehensive and balanced guide to a subject of increasing public profile, which will be of interest to academics, students and practitioners of international law and to all those concerned with preserving the cultural heritage.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the development of international cultural heritage law and policy since 1945. It sets out the international (including regional) law currently governing the protection and safeguarding of cultural heritage in peace time, as well as international cultural policy-making. In addition to analyzing the relevant legal frameworks, it focuses on the broader policy and other contexts within which and in response to which this law has developed. Following this approach, attention is paid to: introducing international cultural heritage law and its place in international law generally; illicit excavation and the illegal trade in archaeological finds; protection of underwater cultural heritage; the relationship between cultural heritage and the environment; intangible aspects of heritage and their safeguarding; cultural heritage as traditional knowledge and creativity; regional approaches to protection; and human rights issues related to cultural heritage. In addition, newly-emerging topics and challenges are addressed, including the relationship between cultural heritage and sustainable development and the gender dynamics of cultural heritage. Providing both a perfect introduction to cultural heritage law and deeper reflection on its challenges, this book should be invaluable for students, scholars, and practitioners in the field.

** Winner of the ABILA (American Branch of the International Law Association) Book of the Year Award for a Book on Practical or Technical Subject. ** In this book James Nafziger covers emerging topics of cultural heritage law, a relatively new landmark in the field of both national and international law. His primary focus is on the frontiers identified and developed by the numerous work products of the International Law Association's Committee on Cultural Heritage Law, expanded and updated by some of his own writings. The construction of cultural heritage law is a good example of transnationalism at work, combining national initiatives with diplomacy, UNESCO and other intergovernmental agreements, international custom, and non-governmental initiatives such as the ILA committee's own contributions. These have included published studies, annotated principles and resolutions, draft treaties and a book focused on national practices in the international trade of cultural material. This volume concludes by briefly exploring current and future frontiers of a burgeoning range of topics that are central to many people's daily experiences and interests. This book was awarded the ABILA (American Branch of the International Law Association) Book of the Year Award for a Book on a Practical or Technical Subject, in 2022.