Cultural heritage could be described as a record of the genius of human beings. The legacy of artefacts, antiquities, sacred places as rituals, traditions and living expressions could be seen as unintelligible foot print left behind for the next generations to mark our path through this world. It’s unimaginable to separate a people’s cultural heritage from the people itself and their rights. At the present there are many complex legal cases on cultural heritage waiting to be settled. These cases are a judicial challenge for all stakeholders. For centuries international law has been developed as a vast legal framework to protect cultural heritage. Even though reality shows that laws cannot stop those motivated by malicious ideologies and those who convinced of their impunity, show contemptuous disregard for law itself. When States are supported to ratify those conventions and implement its protective instruments in their domestic legislation, it will help them to aid their own judiciary in prosecution and to protect this heritage through international cooperation.
This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for research in the field of Cultural Heritage. It provides the basic materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. The Library's subject heading (keyword) Cultural Heritage is instrumental for searching through the Catalogue. Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.
Sources of international law
Treaties
Case-law
UN Declarations and Resolutions
Soft law
- "Documents: a Selection of Codes of Ethics: Archaeological Institute of America", International Journal of Cultural Property, 7 (1998), No. 1, pp. 190-241.
- Nafziger, J., and R. Paterson, Cultural Heritage Law, Report of the Johannesburg Conference-International Law Association, 77 (2016), pp. 758-850.
Reference works
- Blake, J. and L. Lixinski (eds), The 2003 UNESCO Intangible Heritage Convention: a Commentary, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020.
- Forrest, C.J.S., International Law and the Protection of Cultural Heritage, Abingdon, Routledge, 2010.
- Francioni, F. and A.F. Vrdoljak, The Oxford Handbook of International Cultural Heritage Law, Oxford; New York, Oxford University Press, 2020.
- Francioni, F. (ed.), The 1972 World Heritage Convention: a Commentary, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008.
- O'Keefe, P.J. and L.V. Prott, Cultural Heritage Conventions and Other Instruments: a Compendium with Commentaries, Crickadarn, Institute of Art and Law, 2011.
- Vadi, Valentina. Cultural Heritage in International Economic Law. Brill Nijhoff, 2023.
Selected books and articles
- Bandle, A.L., The Sale of Misattributed Artworks and Antiques at Auction, Cheltham, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016.
- Bendix, H.F. (et al.) (eds.), Heritage Regimes and the State, Göttingen, Göttingen University Press, 2013.
- Campfens, E., Cross-border Claims to Cultural Objects: Property or Heritage?, The Hague, Eleven International Publishing, 2021.
- Durbach, A., and L. Lixinski (eds), Heritage, Culture and Rights: Challenging Legal Discourses, Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2017.
- Hutt, S. (et al.), Cultural Property Law: A Practitioner's Guide to the Management, Protection, and Preservation of Heritage Resources, Second Edition, Chicago, American Bar Association, 2017.
- Jakubowski, A., K. Hausler and F. Fiorentin (eds.), Cultural Heritage in the European Union: a Critical Inquiry into Law and Policy, Leiden; Boston, Brill Nijhoff, 2019.
- Lagrange, E., S. Oeter, R. Uerpmann-Wittzack, Cultural Heritage and International Law: Objects, Means and Ends of International Protection, Cham, Springer International Publishing, 2018.
- Lixinski, L., Intangible Cultural Heritage in International Law, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013.
- Lopes Fabris, Alice, and Vincent Négri. La notion de crime contre le patrimoine culturel en droit International. Institut Francophone Pour La Justice et La Démocratie, 2022.
- Lostal, M., International Cultural Heritage Law in Armed Conflict: Case Studies of Syria, Libya, Mali, the Invasion of Iraq, and the Buddhas of Bamiyan, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2017.
- McCafferty, J.D., UNESCO, Cultural Heritage and Conflict in Yemen, Syria and Iraq, Cham, Springer, 2023.
- Silverman, H. (et al.) (eds.), Heritage in Action: Making the Past in the Present, Cham, Springer, 2017.
- Stahn, C., Confronting Colonial Objects : Histories, Legalities, and Access to Culture, First edition, Oxford University Press, 2023.
- Titi, C., The Parthenon Marbles and International Law, Cham, Springer 2023.
- They, M., La protection internationale du patrimoine culturel de la mer: les compétences de l'État sur les biens culturels submergés, Leiden, Brill Nijhoff, 2018
- Vadi, V., Cultural Heritage in International Economic Law, Leiden, Boston, Brill Nijhoff, 2023.
- Vadi, V., "Gravity and Grace: Foreign Investments and Cultural Heritage in International Investment Law", Vanderbilt journal of transnational law, 55 (2022), No. 4, pp. 1007-1050.
- Vadi, V., and E.G.S. Schneider (eds.), Art, Cultural Heritage and the Market: Ethical and Legal Issues, Heidelberg, Springer, 2014.
For all peer-reviewed articles in the PPL Catalogue, click here.
Periodicals, serial publications
- Aedon: rivista di arte e diritto on line
- Art, Antiquity and Law
- DePaul-LCA Journal of Art & Entertainment Law
- International Journal of Cultural Property
- Yearbook of Cultural Property Law
Bibliographies
- Bruhn, P., Beutekunst: Bibliographie des internationalen Schrifttums über das Schicksal des im Zweiten Weltkrieg von der Roten Armee in Deutschland erbeuteten Kulturgutes, München, Otto Sagner, 2003.
- Fiedler, W. and S. Turner, Bibliography on the Law of the International Protection of Cultural Property, Berlin, De Gruyter, 2003.
- Statius Muller, M. and H. Thyssen, "Selected Bibliography", in The Cultural Heritage of Mankind, Leiden, Nijhoff, 2008, pp. 883-1037.
- Centre universitaire du droit de l'art
- Cultural Protection Treaties and Other International Agreements
- CulturalHeritageLaw.org
- European Parliamentary Research Service Blog: Regulating imports of cultural goods (EU Legislation in Progress)
- Features - Legal Protection of Cultural Property: A Selective Resource Guide, by Louise Tsang
- Heritage Law - The home of Heritage Law Europe
- ICCROM International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property
- ICOMOS
- Institute of Art and Law
- International Council of Museums
- Lootedart.com - Central Registry of Information on Looted Cultural Property 1933-1945
- UNECSO Cultural Property: Its Illicit Trafficking and Restitution
- UNESCO Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws