Davies, Piers; Myburgh, Paul --- "New Zealand" [2014] ELECD 290; in Nafziger, A.R. James; Paterson, Kirkwood Robert (eds), "Handbook on the Law of Cultural Heritage and International Trade" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014) 286

Book Title: Handbook on the Law of Cultural Heritage and International Trade

Editor(s): Nafziger, A.R. James; Paterson, Kirkwood Robert

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781007334

Section: Chapter 14

Section Title: New Zealand

Author(s): Davies, Piers; Myburgh, Paul

Number of pages: 19

Abstract/Description:

New Zealand's historical experience has largely involved the exportation or theft of its own treasures, rather than the importation of other peoples' treasures. However, there is a growing realisation that, at least insofar as the South Pacific is concerned, New Zealand was also an overly enthusiastic collector of the treasures of other, particularly indigenous, peoples. Apart from the South Pacific, New Zealand does not have a significant history of importing artefacts, pieces of art or sculpture that have been stolen or illegally excavated, or are of doubtful provenance. New Zealand was very slow to ratify and implement the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. When it did so, it took the opportunity to ratify the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects at the same time. New Zealand was the first Common Law jurisdiction to ratify both Conventions and to attempt a parallel implementation of them into its domestic law. New Zealand's tardiness in this regard is symptomatic of a more general lack of speedy domestic implementation of international cultural conventions, with a limited number of available government officials and the comparatively low priority accorded to international cultural heritage. The Protected Objects Act 1975 (POA) was passed by the New Zealand Parliament in 2006. The POA completely stripped and overhauled an existing statute known as the Antiquities Act 1975, apparently explaining why the POA has been backdated to 1975.