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1995 U.B.C. L. Rev. 229 (1995)
Repatriation of Cultural Property

handle is hein.journals/ubclr1995 and id is 237 raw text is: REPATRIATION OF CULTURAL PROPERTY LYNDEL V. PROTTt I. INTRODUCTION Repatriation is not a new issue in international law. Arguments against the deprivation of South American indigenous populations of their property were developed by Francisco de Vitoria in the sixteenth century. However the modern context of the issue does show some substantially new and important aspects. The first important point to note is that, when talking about the return of cultural property to indigenous peoples, there are two quite different legal situations. Because cultures are not co-extensive with nations, claims for repatriation to autochtonous peoples may be con- tained within one legal system, and thus become matters of internal or national law, or they may be claims against another state, and thus become matters of international law. The moral and cultural issues may be the same, but the legal context is quite different. Claims for the return of cultural property to indigenous peoples are now receiving serious attention of a kind not really given between the heyday of colonialism and the i 96os. This has happened for two reasons: First, the advance of anthropological thinking, which has insisted on the respect of diverse cultures and the important values which each have to contribute to the human tradition; and second, the development of human rights philosophies which have given these peoples a basis of claim legitimate even in legal systems which have hitherto denied their rights to their own cultural materials. In both legal contexts this has led to important developments. During the i96os, at the major period of decolonization in international law, claims were made for the return of cultural property as part of the decolonization process. These claims met with only limited success but have left behind some important procedural openings. Later, during the 198Os and 199os, claims of indigenous peoples within national legal systems, especially in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United t Dr.Juris (Tubingen), Lic. sp&c. en Dr. Int. (Brussels), BA., LL.B. (Sydney). Chief, International Standards Section, Division of Physical Heritage, UNESCO, Paris and Professor of Cultural Heritage Law, University of Sydney (on leave). © Lyndel V. Prott, I995.

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