Handbook on the Law of Cultural Heritage and International Trade

This Handbook offers a collection of original writings by leading scholars and practitioners in the exciting, rapidly developing field of cultural heritage law. The detailed essays are the product of a multi-year project of the Committee on Cultural Heritage Law of the International Law Association.

Following a comprehensive introduction to cultural heritage law, the book turns to the core topic of international trade. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and a 1970 UNESCO convention on illegal trafficking in cultural material formed the foundation for progressive development of an impressive and still-evolving legal framework. Building on these and other instruments, the essays focus on import and export controls within specific national legal regimes. Concluding chapters contextualize additional important issues – including human rights, pluralism and nationalism – from a broader, global perspective. Innovative in its combination of comparative and international dimensions of the subject, this book provides a ready, well-documented reference to national and international regimes of control and a scholarly source for teaching and further research.

Students, professors and practitioners of trade law, cultural heritage law and general international law will find this Handbook an invaluable resource.