The World Heritage regime: rules, obligations and actors

Abstract

Chapter 2 identifies and unpacks the primary rules and obligations of the World Heritage regime. Understanding the key substantive and procedural obligations under the Convention is critical for appreciating when and how instances of non-compliance can arise. An analysis of obligations in both the treaty text and Operational Guidelines is provided, followed by a discussion of the regime's key mechanisms for preservation of World Heritage properties: (1) the concept of 'Lists'; and (2) the notion of 'Outstanding Universal Value' (OUV). Finally, the chapter introduces the regime's web of actors, that is, the States Parties, the World Heritage Committee, the General Assembly, the Advisory Bodies, the Secretariat to the Committee (the World Heritage Centre). This chapter provides the necessary detail for understanding when and how non-compliance may occur as well as who capable of responding to it.