Heritage Strikes Back

Abstract

Images of genocide, mass graves and torn families come to mind when one hears the term ‘war crime’. But does cultural heritage have similar legal rights? Is it protected by the Rome Statute? What lays in the future of cultural heritage protection against destruction? And where do the boundaries of law lie with regards to the rights of cultural objects? The purpose of this paper is to answer these questions by focusing on the 2016 International Criminal Court’s (ICC) judgement in the Al Mahdi case and the analysis of the 2021 ICC’s Policy on Cultural Heritage born in its wake, which will shape our perception of the cultural heritage protection in the years to come. In the first, introductory part of the paper the author ponders upon the concept of cultural heritage, trying to understand why it matters. In turn, the second part of the article focuses on the investigation of the many faces of interactions between cultural heritage and law. The third part of the paper is devoted to the analysis of the Al-Mahdi case heard before the ICC. The author explains how the case was brought before the ICC and the way in which the Court reached its now precedential decision, showing the various ways in which it pushed the boundaries of law and our understanding of what constitutes a war crime. In the fourth part of the paper the author turns his attention to the Policy on Cultural Heritage proposed by the ICC in June 2021 in close collaboration with UNESCO, looking into the new paths it puts forward for cultural heritage. The concluding part of the paper is focused on the question of what the ICC’s Policy means for the future of the prosecution of the crimes against cultural heritage, with the author asking whether it may be an effective tool and deterrent in fighting against the destruction of world’s heritage, and wondering how the rights of monuments may be further broadened in the coming years.