Kirkwood Paterson, Robert; Renold, Marc-André --- "Foreign culture: Export controls on material of foreign origin" [2014] ELECD 299; in Nafziger, A.R. James; Paterson, Kirkwood Robert (eds), "Handbook on the Law of Cultural Heritage and International Trade" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014) 571

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 23

Section Title: Foreign culture: Export controls on material of foreign origin

Author(s): Kirkwood Paterson, Robert; Renold, Marc-André

Number of pages: 18

Abstract/Description:

One of the least discussed aspects of national cultural property export controls is what their scope should properly be. Various national laws present a diversity of approaches ranging from virtual embargoes on the export of broad categories of cultural material, to restrictions limited to exports of what are considered to be objects of truly national importance. Most discussion surrounds issues regarding the enforcement of national export controls, once objects have been illegally exported from their source country. Rarely has the legitimacy of such illegality itself been the subject of extensive debate. Thus, no comprehensive attempt has so far been made at the multilateral level to draft a model cultural property export control law that could be considered for adoption by individual countries. In order to critically evaluate national cultural property export regimes, however, it is necessary to distinguish between two very different sorts of source country situation. On the one hand, there are a number of countries, often whole regions, where unprotected or poorly protected cultural sites and objects are vulnerable to damage, destruction, illegal interference or outright theft. These situations obviously demand some sort of national, perhaps even international, response, usually including export controls, as well as means to achieve the recognition and support of such controls by other countries. On the other hand, most developed countries with well-developed legal systems, such as Australia and the United Kingdom, do not typically face such critical situations and their approach to export controls should, at least arguably, be different.