The 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects: The Role of International Arbitration

Abstract

SummaryGreat efforts have been made by representatives of a multitude of countries to rectify the situation currently confronting parties, whether they be private individuals or states, that seek the return of stolen or illegally exported cultural objects. The organization UNIDROIT has been at the forefront of that effort. In June of 1995, representatives of over seventy states met in Rome and adopted the UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects. The UNIDROIT Convention will enter into force as it is ratified by individual states.The UNIDROIT Convention provides a claimant of a Contracting State with the option of using arbitration to settle its dispute. Until now, there has been little discussion of the advantages that international arbitration can bring to this domain. This article focuses on the benefits of international arbitration in facilitating the resolution of cultural property disputes. It presents an in-depth analysis of the text of the UNIDROIT Convention in the context of existing regulations in this area. It then examines three different approaches to international arbitration. These models serve to highlight the particular characteristics of this dispute resolution mechanism that make it ideally suited to cultural property disputes.