The UNIDROIT Convention on the International Return of Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects
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THE UNIDROIT CONVENTION ON THE
INTERNATIONAL RETURN OF STOLEN OR ILLEGALLY
EXPORTED CULTURAL OBJECTS
Pierre Valentin*
The UNIDROIT Convention on the International Return of Stolen or Illegally Exported
Cultural Objects (the 'Convention') was signed in Rome on 24th June 1995.
The Convention seeks to facilitate the return of stolen and illegally exported cultural property.
It establishes a set of rules designed to avoid potential conflicts between the legal systems of
the claimant and the possessor of the property.' A set of rules is indeed necessary if
dispossessed owners are to stand a chance of recovering cultural property once it has
crossed the borders of its country of origin.2 However an international convention in this
area will succeed only ifit is acceptable to a majority of States with an active art market. This
will be the case ifthe Convention is perceived as achieving afair balance between the interests
of all parties concerned. This paper highlights some of the difficult issues raised by the
Convention.
I. Definition of Cultural Objects
The objective of the Convention is to facilitate the return of stolen and illegally exported
'cultural objects'. The definition of cultural object is critical because it will determine the scope of
the Convention. Does the Convention cover a small number of objects, for example national
treasures or objects of outstanding cultural importance? Does it cover a particular category of
objects, for example excavated antiquities? Does it cover a restricted number of objects by reference
to their age or value?
The Convention defines 'cultural objects' as objects which
on religious or secular grounds, are of importance for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature,
art or science and belong to one of the categories listed in the annex to the Convention.'
The Annex lists categories of objects which can be considered as 'cultural' by reference to
the criteria set out above (examples of listed categories include pictures, paintings and drawings
produced entirely by hand on any support and in any material, and archives, including sound,
* Sotheby's, Associate General Counsel and Director of Public Affairs.
1 For an article by article analysis of the provisions of the Convention, see L.V. Prott, Commentary on the
Unidroit Convention, 1997, Institute of Art and Law.
2 For examples of cases where the dispossessed owner was unable to recover stolen artwork that was found
in another country:
* Winkworth v. Christie, Manson & Woods Ltd [1980] 1 Ch. 496;
* Kingdom of Spain v. Christie, Manson & Woods Ltd [1986] 1 W.L.R. 1120;
* Stato Francese c. Ministero per i beni culturali e ambientali e De Contessini, Tribunale di Roma, 27 June
1987, Rivista de Diritto Internazionale 1988, 920.
3 Article 2.
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The UNIDROIT Convention on the International Return of Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects
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