NCJ Number
174896
Journal
Journal of Financial Crime Volume: 4 Issue: 4 Dated: June 1997 Pages: 329-332
Date Published
1997
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This paper profiles recent European Union legislation that restricts the exportation of cultural property outside the member states of the union and provides a mechanism for the return of cultural artifacts.
Abstract
Under Regulation 3911/92, an export license is required for the export of cultural goods outside the European Union. Cultural goods include archaeological objects more than 100 years old that are the products of excavations and finds on land or underwater, archaeological sites, and archaeological collections; elements forming an integral part of artistic, historical, or religious monuments that have been dismembered (age exceeding 100 years); archives more than 50 years old; and paintings, engravings, sculptures, and photographs. Directive 93/7 pertains to the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a member state. It applies to the same cultural objects as Regulation 3911/92. This legislation is an important step in the protection of cultural property, but it is limited, of necessity, by relying on national laws to classify the objects. The restrictions on national treasures reflects the free-movement provisions of the Treaty of Rome; however, it is this free movement that is being exploited in art theft. These lesser treasures and their sites could be protected by facilitating proprietary claims by member states or their residents, as the digging up of an archaeological site causes damage whether or not the objects removed are national treasures. 28 references