Authored by leading scholars and practitioners from around the world, this Commentary is the first to offer an article-by-article commentary on the two leading multilateral treaties on movable cultural heritage in one volume: The 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects.

Ana Filipa Vrdoljak is the UNESCO Chair in International Law and Cultural Heritage and Professor of Law at the University of Technology Sydney. Professor Vrdoljak is a Correspondent (Pacific region) and Member of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention Academic Project of International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT). With Francesco Francioni, she is the editor of the Oxford Commentaries on International Cultural Heritage Law and the Cultural Heritage Law and Policy series. She is President of the International Cultural Property Society (U.S.) and Chair of the Management Committee, International Journal of Cultural Property (Cambridge University Press). Professor Vrdoljak is a consultant to multilateral organisations, governments, and civil society organisations on cultural heritage law, human rights law, and international law. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy (in Law) from the University of Sydney.
Andrzej Jakubowski holds PhD in International Law (EUI, 2011) and MA in Art History (University of Warsaw, 2005). Affiliated with the Institute of Law Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, he served as Chair of the ILA Committee on Participation in Global Cultural Heritage Governance (2017-2022). A member of the Pool of Arbitrators at the Court of Arbitration for Art (CAfA), he is also enlisted among the mediators and conciliators of the UNESCO Intergovernmental "Return and Restitution" Committee (ICPRCP). He has published extensively on issues related to cultural heritage law and cultural rights in International and European law.
Alessandro Chechi (PhD European University Institute, LLM University College London) is Senior lecturer at the University of Geneva. He also teaches at the Université Catholique of Lille and at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. He serves as a member of the editorial boards of the Italian Yearbook of International Law and of the Santander Art and Culture Law Review, and is a member of the Société international pour la recherché sur le droit du patrimoine culturel et le droit de l'art (ISCHAL). He was consultant for the Council of Europe for the revision of the Convention on Offences Relating to Cultural Property, and is the author of the book 'The Settlement of International Cultural Heritage Disputes' (Oxford University Press, 2014).

• PART I - INTRODUCTION


• Introduction


• PART II - THE 1970 UNESCO CONVENTION: COMMENTARY


• The Preamble to the 1970 UNESCO Convention


• Article 1 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Definition of 'Cultural Property'


• Article 2 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Purposes


• Article 3 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Definition of 'Illicit'


• Article 4 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Cultural Property Forming Part of the Cultural Heritage of Each State


• Article 5(a) of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: National Laws and Regulations


• Article 5(b) of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: National Inventories


• Article 5(c) of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Scientific and Technical Institutions


• Article 5(d) of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: The Supervision of Archaeological Excavations


• Article 5(e) of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Ethics


• Article 5(f) and 5(g) of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Education and Publicity


• Article 6 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Export Controls


• Article 7(a) of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Import Controls of Illegally Exported Cultural Property


• Article 7(b)(i) of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Prohibition of Import of Inventoried Cultural Property


• Article 7(b)(ii) of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Cooperation for the Return of Cultural Property


• Article 8 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Penalties or Administrative Sanctions


• Article 9 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: International Cooperation and Bilateral Agreements


• Article 10 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: National Measures Related to Non-State Actors


• Article 11 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Foreign Occupation


• Article 12 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: International Administration Clause


• Article 13 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Requirements of National Laws


• Article 14 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: National Services and Budget


• Article 15 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Agreements for Return or Restitution of Cultural Property Removed Prior to 1972


• Article 16 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Periodic Reporting


• Article 17 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: The Roles of UNESCO


• Article 22 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Territorial Application


• Articles 18-21, 23-26 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Final Clauses


• Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to Its Countries of Origin or Its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation (ICPRCP)


• The 1970 UNESCO Convention: Governance and Oversight


• PART III-THE 1995 UNIDROIT CONVENTION: COMMENTARY


• The Preamble to the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention


• Article 1 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Claims of an International Character


• Article 2 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Definition of 'Cultural Objects'


• Article 3 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Claims for Restitution of Stolen Cultural Objects


• Article 4 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Possessor's Rights and Claims for Restitution of Cultural Objects


• Article 5 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Claims for Illegally Exported Cultural Objects


• Article 6 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Possessor's Rights and Claims for Return of Cultural Objects


• Article 7(1) of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Exclusionary Clause


• Article 7(2) of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Indigenous Restitution Claims


• Article 8 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Choice of Forum


• Article 9 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Applicable Law


• Article 10 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Transitional Clause


• Article 13 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Existing and Subsequent Treaty Obligations


• Article 14 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Federal or Non-Unitary Constitutional Systems


• Article 16 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Procedures for Submission of Claims and Requests


• Articles 11, 12, 15, 17-21 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention: Final Clauses


• PART IV-THE 1970 UNESCO AND 1995 UNIDROIT CONVENTIONS RELATIONS WITH OTHER TREATIES


• The 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions and the 1954 Hague Convention and Its Protocols


• The 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions and the 1972 World Heritage Convention


• The 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions, UNCLOS and the 2001 Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention


• The 1970 UNESCO and the 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions and the 2003 UNESCO Intangible Heritage Convention


• The 1970 UNESCO and the 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions, the 2005 Convention on Cultural Diversity and International Trade Law


• PART V-CONCLUSIONS


• Conclusion: Looking Forward on the Trade in Cultural Objects