Heritage Law Research Articles

Evaluating the Impact of Urban Encroachment and Land Cover Changes on World Cultural Heritage Site Taxila: A Spatio-Temporal Analysis from 1990 to 2024

Rapid global urbanization during the late 20th and early 21st centuries has induced substantial land cover changes, posing significant threats to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites. In this study, we investigated the spatio-temporal change in urban development in response to land use transformations in the world cultural heritage site (CHS) of Taxila, Pakistan, to check the possible threats faced by the site. Land transfer matrices were used to assess the land cover change (LCC) between 1990 and 2024. Support vector machine and Getis–Ord Gi techniques were employed for LCC classification and spatial pattern interpretation, respectively, which were later evaluated by the high spatial resolution imagery of KH-9 (Keyhole-9), Google Earth Pro and Gaofen-2. The results indicate a significant increase in built-up area from 23.68 km2 to 78.5 km2, accompanied by a substantial rise in bare land from 8.56 km2 to 26.5 km2 between 1990 and 2024, which is quite irregular. LCC transformations were notable, with 13.1 km2 of cropland and 44.8 km2 vegetation being converted into 4.4 km2 of built-up area and 14.5 km2 into bare land during the 1990 to 2024 period. Getis–Ord Gi analysis observed a high Z-score value and showed low to high clustering patterns in the proximity of the Sarakhola and Bhir Mound sites from 1990 to 2024. Furthermore, high spatial resolution imagery indicates the loss of the core zone of the Sarakhola site from 0.0168 to 0.0032 km2 from 2004 to 2024, which was the major threat to its outstanding universal venue (OUV) status. The findings of the current study indicate that the CHS under study is facing an alarming situation for conservation due to rapid urban development and encroachment. Therefore, local government should strictly implement the heritage law and revisit their policies to promote conservation efforts to maintain the authenticity and integrity of this world CHS.

„Gdańskie Studia Azji Wschodniej” 2012–2024

The aim of this article is to summarize the activities of the semi-annual academic journal Gdańskie Studia Azji Wschodniej (The Gdańsk Journal of East Asian Studies) since its establishment in 2012, including 25 issues. The journal was started as an academic project by the Centre for East Asian Studies of the University of Gdańsk. The subject matter of the academic articles published in the journal includes all matters related to the study and presentation of East Asian countries, especially China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, that is, above all, culture, philosophy, language, literature, history, law, statehood, politics, the economy, and economics. The criterion for selecting articles is, thus, not based on the scholarly field, but whether the topic is related to the region of East Asia. The semi-annual journal is multidisciplinary in nature and the aim of the editorial staff is to present various East Asian countries to both Polish and non-Polish readers. Since its establishment, the editor-in-chief of the journal has been Professor Kamil Zeidler, and the secretary of the editorial staff has been Dr. Joanna Kamień. The Academic Advisory Board of GSAW consists of scholars from Poland, China, Japan, and South Korea. Over the twelve years of the journal’s existence, it has published a total of 338 academic articles in twenty-fi ve issues, including nineteen student pieces, thirty-five book reviews on topics related to East Asia, fifty-six reports on various events concerning East Asia, and five occasional in memoriam texts. After the publication in June 2024 of a special issue entitled Cultural Heritage Law in Asia (edited by Kamil Zeidler and Joanna Kamień), the members of the previous editorial board passed on their duties to Dr. Jacek Splisgart, who became the new editor-in-chief of GSAW, and to Paulina Andrzejczak, MA, who became the new secretary of the editorial board. Issue 26 (2024) is the first to be published under the journal’s new editorial board.

A Roman holiday with ‘open heritage’? Exploring copyright law and cultural heritage law’s role for our collective cultural interest in Italian film and Italian fashion

This article explores how the law affects an audience’s collective recognition that a film and fashion in film is of cultural interest. It argues that copyright law today can play an important and crucial role in a film’s continued relevance and in the preservation and valorization of cinema as copyright law regulates the copying and display of a film and its images, including the fashion images within it. Likewise, it shows how cultural heritage law plays an important and crucial role in the preservation and continued relevance of fashion through film as cultural heritage law applies certain rules and norms to the preservation of film reels and the archives and institutions in which they are stored. The article uses Roman Holiday () and La Dolce Vita () as case studies and considers Cinecittà’s description of itself as an ‘open heritage’ to explore the relationship between law, fashion and film.

Cultural Heritage: The Interplay Between International Cultural Heritage Law and the Italian Rules Protecting Good Faith Possessors

Cultural Heritage: The Interplay Between International Cultural Heritage Law and the Italian Rules Protecting Good Faith Possessors

Rescripting contested monuments amid shifting regionings of concern: the case of the President M.T. Steyn statue

The way monuments hold sway seem stable and predictable, yet their ‘meanings’ migrate and their traditionally accepted roles shift. In South Africa there are monuments that commemorate achievements once considered laudable, that have become symbols of oppressive systems. The challenge facing the current generation is to make sense of these monuments in a way that will dignify the lived situation of all stakeholders. One such contested monument is the statue of President M.T. Steyn that used to stand in front of the Main Building of the University of the Free State. The statue divided the campus community. It provoked some students to violent unrest, while others saw it as an important heritage marker. How could the seemingly irreconcilable conflict between these stakeholders be resolved while adhering to heritage laws and without alienating a significant portion of the student body? The complex process that followed relied on creative leaps to provoke public participation and stimulate new forms of appreciation amid shifting regions of concern. One important facet of this process was the construction of a reflective triangular prism installation which provoked new visual, experiential and spatial relationships with the monument, including the visual removal of the statue from the ‘axis of power’, the celebration of oblique views, and opportunities to face the statue in a distorted mirror. This article will critically reflect on the poetic process of strange-making that was followed in the relocation of the President M.T. Steyn statue in order to illustrate how traditional conflict resolution strategies can be reinterpreted in terms of German philosopher, Martin Heidegger’s notion of inceptual thinking. The resulting approach opens new possibilities for creatively rescripting contested monuments; a way of thinking which engages the inceptual regionings impacting the way people live as beings of emplaced care.

Optimizing Available International Remedies for the Return of Cultural Artifacts: The Case of Eritrea

The identity of the artifacts taken from the origin states belongs to the state, as identity cannot be altered or modified. Besides, these cultural assets in their states of origin enjoy the living spirit, value, and respect of the people they belong to and provide the essence of historical legacy to their future generations. Eritrea, a small country in the east of Africa, had been under subjective colonizers for more than 100 years, where colonizers, primarily Italy and Ethiopia, confiscated many of the cultural artifacts of this country. Ethiopia started to seize historical objects in the early 12th and 13th centuries from the Adulis archaeological site and Debrebizen, a monastery near Eritrea’s capital city, later around 55 objects including sarcophagi, tombs, pottery, and coins, were taken to Ethiopia and remained in the Museums of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. This research paper attempts to find a possible way to regain Eritrean artifacts. Further, using the method of case study analysis, this research has managed to provide solutions for Eritrea despite the absence of international legal suits. The case studies entail that in the absence of legal remedies, states still cooperate to return historically taken cultural properties. Also, the return of historical cultural properties has become central to diplomatic dialogue among states. The beneficial outcomes of peace treaties signed between Italy and Libya, Italy and Ethiopia, unilateral declaration of the French Government, enactment of laws by the federal laws of the USA, and the laws enacted by the French government for the return of historically taken cultural properties to Spain and Japan, the negotiations between Italy and the US, the mediation between France and Nigeria, the successful arbitration case of Maria Altmann and the Republic of Austria are the selected and discussed cases during this study. Furthermore, cases are selected based on their successful nature and their impact and influence on international cultural heritage law. Moreover, the paper has also pointed out the underlying and potential challenges that Eritrea may face in claiming the historically taken artifacts. Finally, the paper recommends, on the side of Eritrea, the use of the peace agreement signed with Ethiopia as a legal base to initiate bilateral negotiations and all forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms to claim the return of historically taken cultural properties from Italy and Ethiopia. Suggestively, Italy and Ethiopia must realize the importance of those looted properties to the state of Eritrea and must unilaterally declare their return through legislation, administrative measures, political declaration, or peace agreements

Reorganising the law to understand and protect all forms of cultural heritage

ABSTRACT Professor Irene Watson explains that decolonisation requires us to dissolve and think beyond the white colonial ‘right way of knowing’ intrinsic in Western law, and its methodologies and philosophies (1998, 28, 30). This ‘right way’ operates within a hierarchy of being that divides body from mind and spirit, and divides humans from non-human beings and from the physical and spiritual environment (Graham, 1999, 113–115). This ethos of separation is infused in Australian law and common law thinking, including those laws directed to the protection of cultural heritage. Using the cultural heritage protections laws as a prism, this paper interrogates the contemporary injustices caused by law. Contrasting the quality of protections afforded to Aboriginal cultural heritage to that afforded to ‘white’ forms of cultural heritage, we argue that cultural heritage laws operate as a racialised system of violence that is causing irreparable harm to the lands and waterways. It is urgent that we reorganise laws’ relationship to land by reinstating Indigenous sovereignty and holistic and relational management of country, the waterways, non-human beings and other entities.

Optimization of Legal Protection for the Leato Wreck Site: Discourse on Cultural Heritage Law and Maritime Conservation Law

Cultural heritage regulations and maritime conservation area regulations intersect and overlap in terms of legal protection, and nowhere is this more obvious than at the Leato underwater site/Japanese cargo ship wreck, referred to as the Leato wreck site in this paper. This legal issue later became a stumbling block in optimizing the legal protection of the Leato/Japanese cargo wreck underwater site. The study used two approaches: the statute approach and the conceptual approach. Analysis: a shipwreck can be defined as a catastrophic event that occurred in the past, with potential socio-economic benefits in the future, contingent upon optimal efforts to conserve history and culture, with great socio-economic potential if its exploitation is successfully optimized, with an eye to conservation efforts. The combination of these legally binding regulations is the key to optimizing the legal protection of the Leato underwater site. The maritime conservation area regulations safeguard the shipwreck's location as an integrated and interconnected ecosystem. By contrast, cultural heritage regulations protect the core zone of the Leato underwater site as a maritime cultural heritage from potential natural or human-caused damage. Other important issues that need to be considered are the empowerment of local communities in realizing a sustainable environment and cooperation between institutions in maintaining and preserving underwater cultural heritage.

Reconstruction of Civil Law Systems and the Law of Obligations under the English Common Law Heritage

The central theme of this research is to illuminate the role of judicial precedents in the reconstruction of civil law legal systems around the world. Consistent with this pursuit and analysis it will be essential to explore the historical background that underpins the role of judicial precedents in civil legal systems. There are significant differences between civil and common law jurisdictions. Thus evidence will be presented to show that judges have found precedents to be persuasive when adjudicating similar cases. This research will also juxtapose the role judicial precedents against the backdrop of the doctrine of Juris Constantein the development of civil law legal systems.

The idea of protecting cultural heritage for the benefit of future generations in international cultural heritage law

Abstract Much of today’s academic scholarship of international cultural heritage law circles around cultural heritage’s protection for the benefit of future generations. Despite this, the efforts to systematically examine the concept in more detail are scarcer. This paper seeks to fill this gap by taking a closer look at the ways in which the notion of future generations features in the body of international cultural heritage law. This contribution firstly illustrates how central the idea of protecting cultural heritage for the benefit of future generations is in international cultural heritage law. Despite this centrality, evidenced by an extensive analysis of international and regional hard and soft law, national law, case law, and policy options, its precisely contours the second argument of this paper, is that they remain elusive. Finally, skepticism is voiced over the concept’s potential ambivalent use with respect to the protection of cultural heritage.

Preventive conservation – a means of sustainability of cultural heritage: The case of the M’Zab Valley

Abstract The management of heritage sites is fundamental to their conservation and sustainability, and more broadly, it contributes to the preservation of the environment. This article highlights the conservation plan developed for one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Algerian context: the M’Zab Valley in Ghardaïa. It has managed to preserve its specific character over the centuries thanks to the management operations that have been necessary for its continuity. The main question of this study is what are the management actions adopted in the M’Zab Valley with regard to the Ksourian architectural heritage to ensure its sustainability? Given the exploratory nature of this research, we chose a qualitative and inductive method. The study is based on a combination of several investigative tools: interviews, observations and photographs. The aim of the article is to highlight the efforts made by the Algerian public authorities and the local community to implement cultural heritage management measures in a particular context. The results of the analysis reveal, first, that the implementation of the permanent plan for the safeguarding and enhancement of the protected sector of the M’Zab Valley has proven itself in the preservation of monuments, sites and historic buildings, but also all the contexts associated with the daily life of people. Second, the rehabilitation operations of the historic ksour shall ensure the authenticity of the buildings and their integrity with the environment will be kept while adapting them to the current needs of users. Third, the combination of efforts between public institutions, the Office for the Protection and Promotion of the Valley of M’Zab, the local community and associations avoided the weakening of traditions and ancestral values through awareness missions, heritage education programmes, the application of heritage laws and regulations, and scientific and historical documentation of local heritage. Finally, the involvement of the local community in all operations on their local heritage ensures the transfer of local knowledge.

СУЧАСНИЙ СТАН НАУКОВОГО ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ ТА ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ РОЗВИТКУ КРИМІНАЛЬНО-ПРАВОВОЇ БІОГРАФІСТИКИ В УКРАЇНІ

The article analyzes the current state of scientific research in criminal legal biography in Ukraine. The author defines criminal legal biography as a branch of biographical science which studies the peculiarities of formation, formation and development of fundamental criminal law doctrines, ideas, views and concepts of leading criminalists, taking into account their life biography, in particular, public, state, political, scientific and scientific-pedagogical activities. The author identifies the main areas of development of criminal law biography, in particular, writing dissertations, preparing monographic studies, compiling (organizing) editions of selected works and biographies (bibliographies) of leading criminalists. The first area in criminal law biography – conducting dissertation research on the criminal law (including criminological and criminal executive) heritage of prominent representatives of Ukrainian legal science. The second area in criminal legal biography – conducting monographic studies of the peculiarities of the formation and development of individual scientific schools in Ukrainian criminal law, criminology and criminal executive law. The third area in criminal legal biography is the compilation (arrangement) of publications (selected works, selected works, biographies (bibliographies), etc.) covering generalizations of the criminal legal (including criminological and criminal executive) heritage of certain leading representatives of Ukrainian legal science, in particular, containing both the full content and certain fragments of abstracts, articles, monographs, manuals, scientific and practical commentaries, textbooks, etc. The author outlines the prospects for the development of criminal law biography in Ukraine. Key words: biography, science, biographical method, law, research, criminal law heritage, doctrine, ideas, views, concepts, criminal law, criminology, criminal executive law.

Juridical Analysis of the Position of the Surakarta Kasunanan Palace as a Cultural Heritage Area Linked to the Basic Agrarian Law (UUPA)

With the provisions of the Fourth Dictum of the UUPA, regarding the position of the Surakarta Kasunanan Palace as a cultural heritage area, there are still differences of opinion regarding its ownership status. This research aims to examine the position of the Surakarta Kasunanan Palace after the enactment of the UUPA, as well as to analyze the ownership status of the Surakarta Kasunanan Palace as a cultural heritage area. The research method is normative juridical. The type of data used is secondary data. Data analysis techniques using deductive reasoning presented descriptively. The results of this research are: first, the position of the Surakarta Kasunanan Palace after Indonesian Independence, based on: Law Number 10 of 1950 was designated as part of Central Java Province; and based on Law Number 18 of 1965, de jure Swaraja Surakarta was abolished. Then, after the UUPA came into force, the position of the Surakarta Kasunanan Palace should have shifted to the State. However, in reality, currently the Surakarta Palace Sultanate still has and exercises authority over the lands it owns and owns based on Presidential Decree Number 23 of 1988. Second, the ownership status of the Surakarta Kasunanan Palace as a cultural heritage area is stipulated in the Regulation of the Minister of Culture and Tourism Number PM.03/PW.007/MKP/2010 belongs to the Surakarta Kasunanan Palace as an indigenous community in accordance with Article 13 of the Cultural Heritage Law. The Surakarta Kasunanan Palace is a traditional community, because the King is the traditional leader who still has the same territorial area and lineage and has authority within and outside his traditional area. If the Kasunanan Surakarta Palace is interpreted as a traditional institution, and ownership of the land of the Surakarta Kasunanan Palace becomes a customary right for the Surakarta Kasunanan Palace, then as a consequence the Government in taking over the land of the former Surakarta self-government must also pay attention to the principle of recognizing these customary rights.

2024 Pierre Lalive and John Henry Merryman Fellowship in Art and Cultural Heritage Law

2024 Pierre Lalive and John Henry Merryman Fellowship in Art and Cultural Heritage Law

Hambatan Penegakan Hukum terhadap Pelaku Tindak Pidana Pencurian Benda Cagar Budaya di Kupang Nusa Tenggara Timur

The purpose of this study is the obstacles to law enforcement against perpetrators of criminal acts of theft of cultural heritage objects in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara. This research is an empirical juridical research that examines a legal event that occurs through a statute cause approach. Data collection is carried out with two events, namely interviews and document studies. The data obtained is then presented descriptively qualitative. The results showed that the obstacles experienced by the community and law enforcement officials are: the absence of reports to the police and coordination with other stakeholders; the caretaker's mistake in understanding evidence; stakeholders who observe cultural heritage have not functioned optimally; and there is no PPNS cultural heritage in NTT. Prevention efforts taken in the form of prevention include: organizing cultural heritage promotion and counseling campaigns; providing training or technical guidance to all cultural heritage caretakers in NTT; the government supports the presence of the Cultural Preservation Agency (BPK); and collaborating with stakeholders. Law enforcement against criminal acts of theft of cultural heritage objects is still not optimal. Therefore, suggestions for the results of this study are the socialization of cultural heritage protection and cultural heritage laws comprehensively. All stakeholders must be more adaptive and responsive. BPK needs to cooperate with local governments and related institutions to draft a special regulation or law governing the establishment of a special agency for the supervision of cultural heritage sites. Make a government regulation regarding the establishment of a special cultural heritage police.

Application of Intangible Cultural Heritage Art Resources in Art Education of Primary and Secondary Schools

The Intangible Cultural Heritage Law of the People's Republic of China explicitly states that educational institutions shall implement relevant intangible cultural heritage education by the provisions set forth by the competent education department under The State Council. Integrating intangible cultural heritage into art education is a crucial approach to safeguarding and preserving intangible cultural heritage. Schools serve as an optimal platform for inheriting and protecting the abundant intangible cultural heritage, with the compulsory education stage in primary and secondary schools offering unparalleled opportunities. Integrating local intangible cultural heritage into primary and secondary school art education and compiling art textbooks with local characteristics will help form a theoretical framework of curriculum design suitable for this purpose. As a result, they attained significant accomplishments regarding cultural transmission and spiritual heritage. However, there are still some things that could be improved with teaching staff, teaching material content, family and school social environment. It is imperative to conduct further research on optimizing the integration of resources into art education in primary and secondary schools. The investigation into effectively incorporating intangible cultural heritage art resources into art instruction in primary and secondary schools necessitates additional exploration.

Land Ownership Rights to Cultural Reserve Buildings in Surabaya based on Basic Agrarian Law and Cultural Heritage Law

In colonial times, the city of Surabaya was an important part that held a lot of history. Surabaya is known as the oldest port city in Indonesia during the Dutch East Indies era and was the centre of government and international trade. Apart from that, Surabaya was also named a city of heroes because the heroes at that time were willing to sacrifice themselves to fight for and defend the independence of the Republic of Indonesia by fighting the invaders. On that basis, Surabaya is rich in cultural heritage. Most of the heritage of these historic buildings is still standing and can be found in several areas of the city of Surabaya. The local Department of Tourism and Culture has established regulations to protect original historic buildings as city heritage. However, in fulfilling the rights and obligations of individuals and city governments, land rights owned from generation to generation must be considered by the local city government. This research uses normative juridical with doctrinal and statutory regulatory approaches. This research aims to find regional regulations regarding cultural heritage related to ownership rights in managing cultural heritage land and buildings.

Pierre Lalive and John Henry Merryman, Fellows in Art and Cultural Heritage Law – Where Are They Now?

The International Journal of Cultural Property (IJCP) is proud to award yearly the Pierre Lalive and John Henry Merryman Fellowship in Art and Cultural Heritage Law, hosted by the International Cultural Property Society and the Art-Law Centre of the University of Geneva.

Damnatio Memoriae of Serbian Culture: The Institute for the Preservation of Antiquities of Milan Nedić's Government, Precursor of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments

Currently, the conservation activities in Serbia are conducted by the institutions for the protection of cultural monuments. It is widely accepted that the first institute of the kind was The Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, established in 1947, during the enactment of several heritage laws, which were also presented as the first of their kind. The main contribution for the establishment of the Institute was attributed to its first director, Milorad Panić-Surep.
 During the Second World War, in the spring of 1942, at the initiative of the occupiers, the collaborationist government of Milan Nedić enacted the Regulation on the Preservation of Antiquities. It was the first legal act aimed at protecting cultural heritage in Serbia. On this basis, the Institute for the Protection of Antiquities was established, which actively operated despite the wartime conditions. From its establishment until the founding of the post-war Institute in 1947, there was an uninterrupted continuity, marked by several transformations due to the turbulent post-war events.
 Towards the end of the war, in early 1945, the Institute for the Protection of Antiquities ceased its operations but was not dissolved, it was merged with the Art Museum instead (formerly the Museum of Prince Paul, now the National Museum of Serbia). Thus, both before and after the war, in addition to its regular activities, the Museum also engaged in conservation efforts. The Museum director, Veljko Petrović, insisted that, following the example from the occupation years, an independent institution for conservation activities should be established.
 This was realized in several steps. Firstly, in April, a special committee for creating the Register of Antiquities was formed under the auspices of the Museum, taking over the responsibilities of the former Institute. Subsequently, at the turn of 1945 to 1946, the committee evolved into a separate museum Department for the Protection and Scientific Study of Cultural Monuments, and by mid-1947, it became an independent institution as the Institute for the Protection and Scientific Research of Cultural Monuments. This institution took over all previously created documentation as well as leading experts and in 1960 it changed its name to the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments.
 Following the given facts, the Institute for the Protection of Antiquities from 1942 is a direct precursor to the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, with a continuous legacy. Driven by ideological reasons, the post-war authorities intended to demonstrate that numerous innovative moves of state administration were initiated during their tenure. Consequently, they endeavored to conceal or minimize initiatives undertaken by previous authorities, particularly the ones associated with the collaborationist government during the occupation period, whose entire activity was presented as contrary to the interests of the people.

El audiovisual como patrimonio: evolución histórica y situación actual del patrimonio cinematográfico y audiovisual español

The historical evolution of the Spanish Cinematographic and Audiovisual Heritage, since the creation of the Spanish Film Archive (formerly National) in 1953, has been conditioned by the constant transformation of the audiovisual industry and the successive legislative regulations since the Historical Heritage Law was passed in 1985. incorporated for the first time in Spain. Successive attempts to update and develop this regulation have been truncated for various reasons, including the lack of agreement between the central and regional administrations; which is intended to be solved with a new cinema law that incorporates all audiovisual heritage into the corpus of works to be protected. There is unanimity that it should be considered as part of this heritage, which has increased in recent years with new technologies and digital development.