Cultural heritage property can be protected in a variety of ways, including at the international level, by enforcement in domestic courts, and through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. This book sets out the legal framework applicable to cultural heritage and assesses how this works in practice, including in situations of conflict.

The idea of cultural heritage as an 'international public good' can be traced back to the Preamble of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, according to which "damage to cultural property belonging to any people whatsoever means damage to the cultural heritage of all mankind". How this idea of cultural heritage as a global public good can be reconciled with the effective enforcement of protection norms is the subject of this study. Bringing together world experts in protecting cultural heritage, Enforcing International Cultural Heritage Law examines the different ways that cultural heritage property can be protected, including protection at the international level, enforcement in domestic courts, and the role of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. The book is divided into three sections. The first section assesses international law and analyses the interaction between international and domestic norms of public and private law. It discusses the different methods of international enforcement, the role of international and mixed criminal tribunals and courts, and the means for protecting cultural heritage in times of armed conflict. The second section addresses the role of national courts, discussing such topics as: barriers to domestic enforcement of international norms, the refusal to enforce foreign law, the difficulty of territorial boundaries in relation to underwater heritage, and the application of criminal sanctions by domestic courts. The final section of the book surveys alternatives to the legal enforcement of the norms protecting cultural heritage, including arbitration, soft law, and diplomacy.

This title explores the international (including regional) law currently governing the protection and safeguarding of cultural heritage in peacetime and related international cultural policy-making. An important aspect of this publication is the emphasis placed on broader policy and other contexts within which, and in response to which, this law has developed.

Intangible cultural heritage is the traditional practices, expressions, knowledge, and skills that form part of a community's culture. It is protected by a 2003 UNESCO Convention, and by several regional and national instruments. This book analyses its legal protection, including from within human rights, intellectual property, and contract law.

This Handbook sets out and assesses the international legal framework governing the protection of cultural heritage. Cultural heritage is frequently not bounded by national territory and can only effectively be protected through international cooperation. This is a primary driving force of contemporary multilateral, regional and bilateral initiatives, including legal measures. Accordingly, the handbook is primarily focused on public international law, but it embraces also aspects of private international law and comparative law. It analyses the substance of cultural heritage protection and explores its links with other areas of public and private international law, as well as the ways in which cultural heritage law is contributing to the development of international law itself. The book concludes with an examination of the implementation of cultural heritage law and of regional approaches. It reflects the diversity of developments in almost every field of international law which is leading to this specialist area of law, and provides an overarching rationale for understanding and teaching cultural heritage law as a coherent body of law with key principles and practices. The book is designed in such a manner to enable a reader, whether it be a practitioner, policymaker, teacher or student, to pick and choose according their individual needs

Berenika Drazewska’s book offers a comprehensive scholarly analysis of the current meaning of military necessity in the international legal framework for the protection of cultural heritage during armed conflicts.

The recent spate of threats to cultural heritage, including in Iraq, Mali, Nepal, Syria, and Yemen, has led to increased focus on the sources of international cultural heritage law. This edited volume shows that international cultural heritage law is not a discrete and contained body of law, but one whose component parts are drawn from diverse fields of public international law. It shows how cultural heritage law has been shaped by its interaction with other areas of international law, and how it has contributed to international law in turn. In this volume, scholars and practitioners explore some of the primary points of intersection between international cultural heritage law and public international law. Chapters explore instersections with the law of armed conflict, international and transnational criminal law, international human rights, the international movement, regulation, and restitution of cultural artefacts, and the UN system. The result is a cohesive collection that not only explores many facets of the intersections of cultural heritage law and public international law, but also examines how the regimes operate together and how the relationship between them largely facilitates, but also sometimes hinders, the development of international law governing the protection of cultural heritage.