Squaring the Triangle of Cultural Property Law. Seventy Years of UNIDROIT’s Work

Abstract

Squaring the Triangle of Cultural Property Law. Seventy Years of UNIDROIT’s Work A lot has been written about the “Eternal Triangle of Cultural Property Law”, the sale of a cultural object by a non-owner, and the innovative provisions of Article 4 of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects. This article aims to demonstrate how almost 70 years of UNIDROIT’s work in the field have shaped the principles regulating a non domino sales of stolen cultural objects. The article focuses on the work conducted by UNIDROIT; from the drafting of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the draft Convention providing a Uniform Law on the Acquisition in Good Faith of Corporeal Movables to the adoption of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention; and examines its impact on domestic legislation and case law.