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UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen
or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects

24 June 1995

THE STATE PARTIES TO THIS CONVENTION, 

ASSEMBLED in Rome at the invitation of the Government of the Italian Republic from 7 to 24 June 1995 for a Diplomatic Conference for the adoption of the draft Unidroit Convention on the International Return of Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects, 

CONVINCED of the fundamental importance of the protection of cultural heritage and of cultural exchanges for promoting understanding between peoples, and the dissemination of culture for the well-being of humanity and the progress of civilisation, 

DEEPLY CONCERNED by the illicit trade in cultural objects and the irreparable damage frequently caused by it, both to these objects themselves and to the cultural heritage of national, tribal, indigenous or other communities, and also to the heritage of all peoples, and in particular by the pillage of archaeological sites and the resulting loss of irreplaceable archaeological, historical and scientific information, 

DETERMINED to contribute effectively to the fight against illicit trade in cultural objects by taking the important step of establishing common, minimal legal rules for the restitution and return of cultural objects between Contracting States, with the objective of improving the preservation and protection of the cultural heritage in the interest of all, 

EMPHASISING that this Convention is intended to facilitate the restitution and return of cultural objects, and that the provision of any remedies, such as compensation, needed to effect restitution and return in some States, does not imply that such remedies should be adopted in other States, 

AFFIRMING that the adoption of the provisions of this Convention for the future in no way confers any approval or legitimacy upon illegal transactions of whatever kind which may have taken place before the entry into force of the Convention, 

CONSCIOUS that this Convention will not by itself provide a solution to the problems raised by illicit trade, but that it initiates a process that will enhance international cultural co- operation and maintain a proper role for legal trading and inter- State agreements for cultural exchanges, 

ACKNOWLEDGING that implementation of this Convention should be accompanied by other effective measures for protecting cultural objects, such as the development and use of registers, and the physical protection of archaeological sites and technical co- operation, 

RECOGNISING the work of various bodies to protect cultural property, particularly the 1970 UNESCO Convention on illicit traffic and the development of codes of conduct in the private sector, 

HAVE AGREED as follows: 

Chapter I - Scope of Application and Definition

Article 1 

This Convention applies to claims of an international character for: 

  1. the restitution of stolen cultural objects;
  2. the return of cultural objects removed from the territory of a Contracting State contrary to its law regulating the export of cultural objects for the purpose of protecting its cultural heritage (hereinafter "illegally exported cultural objects").

Article 2

For the purposes of this Convention, cultural objects are those which, on religious or secular grounds, are of importance for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature art or science and belong to one of the categories listed in the Annex to this Convention. 

Chapter II - Restitution of Stolen Cultural Objects 

Article 3 

(1) The possessor of a cultural object which has been stolen shall return it. 
(2) For the purposes of this Convention, a cultural object which has been unlawfully excavated or lawfully excavated but unlawfully retained shall be considered stolen, when consistent with the law of the State where the excavation took place. 
(3) Any claim for restitution shall be brought within a period of three years from the time when the claimant knew the location of the cultural object and the identity of its possessor, and in any case within a period of fifty years from the time of the theft. 
(4) However, a claim for restitution of a cultural object forming an integral part of an identified monument or archaeological site, or belonging to a public collection, shall not be subject to time limitations other than a period of three years from the time when the claimant knew the location of the cultural object and the identity of its possessor. 
(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of the preceding paragraph, any Contracting State may declare that a claim is subject to a time limitation of 75 years or such longer period as is provided in its law. A claim made in another Contracting State for restitution of a cultural object displaced from a monument, archaeological site or public collection in a Contracting State making such a declaration shall also be subject to that time limitation. 
(6) A declaration referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be made at the time of signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. 
(7) For the purposes of this Convention, a "public collection,' consists of a group of inventoried or otherwise identified cultural objects owned by: 

  1. a Contracting State
  2. a regional or local authority of a Contracting State;
  3. a religious institution in a Contracting State; or
  4. an institution that is established for an essentially cultural, educational or scientific purpose in a Contracting State and is recognised in that State as serving the public interest.
    5.
(8) In addition, a claim for restitution of a sacred or communally important cultural object belonging to and used by a tribal or indigenous community in a Contracting State as part of that community's traditional or ritual use, shall be subject to the time limitation applicable to public collections. 

Article 4

(1) The possessor of a stolen cultural object required to return it shall be entitled, at the time of its restitution, to payment of fair and reasonable compensation provided that the possessor neither knew nor ought reasonably to have known that the object was stolen and can prove that it exercised due diligence when acquiring the object. 
(2) Without prejudice to the right of the possessor to compensation referred to in the preceding paragraph, reasonable efforts shall be made to have the person who transferred the cultural object to the possessor, or any prior transferor, pay the compensation where to do so would be consistent with the law of the State in which the claim is brought. 
(3) Payment of compensation to the possessor by the claimant, when this is required, shall be without prejudice to the right of the claimant to recover it from any other person. 
(4) In determining whether the possessor exercised due diligence, regard shall be had to all the circumstances of the acquisition, including the character of the parties, the price paid, whether the possessor consulted any reasonably accessible register of stolen cultural objects, and any other relevant information and documentation which it could reasonably have obtained, and whether the possessor consulted accessible agencies or took any other step that a reasonable person would have taken in the circumstances. 
(5) The possessor shall not be in a more favourable position than the person from whom it acquired the cultural object by inheritance or otherwise gratuitously. 

Chapter III - Return of Illegally Exported Cultural Objects 

Article 5 

(1) A Contracting State may request the court or other competent authority of another Contracting State to order the return of a cultural object illegally exported from the territory of the requesting State. 
(2) A cultural object which has been temporarily exported from the territory of the requesting State, for purposes such as exhibition, research or restoration under a permit issued according to its law regulating its export for the purpose of protecting its cultural heritage and not returned in accordance with the terms of that permit shall be deemed to have been illegally exported. 
(3) The court or other competent authority of the State addressed shall order the return of an illegally exported cultural object if the requesting State establishes that the removal of the object from its territory significantly impairs one or more of the following interests: 

  1. the physical preservation of the object or of its context;
  2. the integrity of a complex object;
  3. the preservation of information of, for example, a scientific or historical character
  4. the traditional or ritual use of the object by a tribal or indigenous community,
    5.
or establishes that the object is of significant cultural importance for the requesting State. 
(4) Any request made under paragraph I of this article shall contain or be accompanied by such information of a factual or legal nature as may assist the court or other competent authority of the State addressed in determining whether the requirements of paragraphs 1 to 3 have been met. 
(5) Any request for return shall be brought within a period of three years from the time when the requesting State knew the location of the cultural object and the identity of its possessor, and any case within a period of fifty years from the date of the export or from the date on which the object should have been returned under a permit referred to in paragraph 2 of this article. 

Article 6

(1) The possessor of a cultural object who acquired the object after it was illegally exported shall be entitled, at the time of its return, to payment by the requesting State of fair and reasonable compensation, provided that the possessor neither knew nor ought reasonably to have known at the time of acquisition that the object had been illegally exported. 
(2) In determining whether the possessor knew or ought reasonably to have known that cultural object had been illegally exported, regard shall be had to the circumstances of the acquisition, including the absence of an export certificate required under the law of the requesting State. 
(3) Instead of compensation, and in agreement with the requesting State, the possessor required to return the cultural object to that State may decide: 

  1. to retain ownership of the object; or
  2. to transfer ownership against payment or gratuitously to a person of its choice residing in the requesting State who provides the necessary Guarantees
    3.
(4) The cost of returning the cultural object in accordance with this article shall be borne by the requesting State, without prejudice to the right of that State to recover costs from any other person. 
(5) The possessor shall not be in a more favourable position than the person from whom it acquired the cultural object by inheritance or otherwise gratuitously. 

Article 7

(1) The provisions of this Chapter shall not apply where: 

  1. the export of a cultural object is no longer illegal at the time at which the return is requested; or
  2. the object was exported during the lifetime of the person who created it or within a period of fifty years following the death of that person.
    3.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-paragraph (b) of the preceding paragraph, the provisions of this Chapter shall apply where a cultural object was made by a member or members of a tribal or indigenous community for traditional or ritual use by that community and the object will be returned to that community. 

Chapter IV - General Provisions

Article 8

(1) A claim under Chapter II and a request under Chapter III may be brought before the courts or other competent authorities of the Contracting State where the cultural object is located, in addition to the courts or other competent authorities otherwise having jurisdiction under the rules in force in Contracting States. 
(2)The parties may agree to submit the dispute to any court or to other competent authority or arbitration. 
(3)Resort may be had to the provisional, including protective, measures available under the law of the Contracting State where the object is located even when the claim for restitution or request for return of the object is brought before the courts or other competent authorities of another Contracting State. 

Article 9 

(1) Nothing in this Convention shall prevent a Contracting State from applying any rules more favourable to the restitution or the return of stolen or illegally exported cultural objects than provided for by this Convention. 
(2) This article shall not be interpreted as creating an obligation to recognise or enforce a decision of a court or other competent authority of another Contracting State that departs from the provisions of this Convention. 

Article 10 

(1) The provisions of Chapter II shall apply only in respect of a cultural object that is stole after this Convention enters into force in respect of the State where the claim is brought, provided that: 

  1. the object was stolen from the territory of a Contracting State after the entry into force of this Convention for that State; or
  2. the object is located in a Contracting State after the entry into force of the Convention for that State.
    3.
(2) The provisions of Chapter III shall apply only in respect of a cultural object that is illegally exported after this Convention enters into force for the requesting State as well as the State where the request is brought. 

(3) This Convention does not in any way legitimise any illegal transaction of whatever nature which has taken place before the entry into force of this Convention or which is excluded under paragraphs (1) or (2) of this article, nor limit any right of a State or other person to make a claim under remedies available outside the framework of this Convention for the restitution or return of a cultural object stolen or illegally exported before the entry into force of this Convention. 

Chapter V - Final Provisions 

Article 11 

(1) This Convention is open for signature at the concluding meeting of the Diplomatic Conference for the adoption of the draft Unidroit Convention on the International Return of Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects and will remain open for signature by all States at Rome until 30 June 1996. 
(2) This Convention is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval by States which have signed it. 
(3) This Convention is open for accession by all States which are not signatory States as from the date it is open for signature. 
(4) Ratification, acceptance, approval or accession is subject to the deposit of a formal instrument to that effect with the depositary. 

Article 12 

(1) This Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the sixth month following the date of deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. 
(2) For each State that ratifies, accepts, approves or accedes to this Convention after the deposit of the fifth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. this Convention shall enter into force in respect of that State on the first day of the sixth month following the date of deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. 

Article 13 

(1) This Convention does not affect any international instrument by which any Contracting State is legally bound and which contains provisions on matters governed by this Convention, unless a contrary declaration is made by the States bound by such instrument. 
(2) Any Contracting State may enter into agreements with one or more Contracting States, with a view to improving the application of this Convention in their mutual relations. The States which have concluded such an agreement shall transmit a copy to the depositary. 
(3) In their relations with each other, Contracting States which are Members of organizations of economic integration or regional bodies may declare that they will apply the internal rules of these organizations or bodies and will not therefore apply as between these States the provisions of this Convention the scope of application of which coincides with that of those rules. 

Article 14 

(1) If a Contracting State has two or more territorial units, whether or not possessing different systems of law applicable in relation to the matters dealt with in this Convention, it may, at the time of signature or of the deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, declare that this Convention is to extend to all its territorial units or only to one or more of them, and may substitute for its declaration another declaration at any time. 
(2) These declarations are to be notified to the depositary and are to state expressly the territorial units to which the Convention extends. 
(3) If, by virtue of a declaration under this article, this Convention extends to one or more but not all of the territorial units of a Contracting State, the reference to: 

  1. the territory of a Contracting State in Article 1 shall be construed as referring to the territory of a territorial unit of that State;
  2. a court or other competent authority of the Contracting State or of the State addressed shall be construed as referring to the court or other competent authority of a territorial unit of that State;
  3. the Contracting State where the cultural object is located in Article 8 (1) shall be construed as referring to the territorial unit of that State where the object is located;
  4. the law of the Contracting State where the object is located in Article 8 (3) shall be construed as referring to the law of the territorial unit of that State where the object is located; and
  5. a Contracting State in Article 9 shall be construed as referring to a territorial unit of that State.
    6.
(4) If a Contracting State makes no declaration under paragraph 1 of this article, this Convention is to extend to all territorial units of that State. 

Article 15

(1) Declarations made under this Convention at the time of signature are subject confirmation upon ratification, acceptance or approval. 
(2) Declarations and confirmations of declarations are to be in writing and to be formally notified to the depositary. 
(3) A declaration shall take effect simultaneously with the entry into force of this Convention in respect of the State concerned. However, a declaration of which the depositary receives formal notification after such entry into force shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month following the date of its deposit with the depositary. 
(4) Any State which makes a declaration. under this Convention may withdraw it at any time by a formal notification in writing addressed to the depositary. Such withdrawal shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month following the date of the deposit of the notification.  

Article 16 

(1) Each Contracting State shall at the time of signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, declare that claims for the restitution, or requests for the return, of cultural objects brought by a State under Article 8 may be submitted to it under one or more of the following procedures: 

  1. directly to the courts or other competent authorities of the declaring State;
  2. through an authority or authorities designated by that State to receive such claims or requests and to forward them to the courts or other competent authorities of that State;
  3. through diplomatic or consular channels.
    4.
(2) Each Contracting State may also designate the courts or other authorities competent to order the restitution or return of cultural objects under the provisions of Chapters II and III. 
(3) Declarations made under paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article may be modified at any time by a new declaration. 
(4) The provisions of paragraphs I to 3 of this article do not affect bilateral or multilateral agreements on judicial assistance in respect of civil and commercial matters that may exisit between Contracting States.  

Article 17 

Each Contracting State shall, no later than six months following the date of deposit of its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, provide the depositary with written information in one of the official languages of the Convention concerning the legislation regulating the export of its cultural objects. This information shall be updated from time to time as appropriate. 

Article 18 

No reservations are permitted except those expressly authorised in this Convention. 

Article 19 

(1) This Convention may be denounced by any State Party, at any time after the date on which it enters into force for that State, by the deposit of an instrument to that effect with the depositary. 
(2) A denunciation shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month following the deposit of the instrument of denunciation with the depositary. Where a longer period for the denunciation to take effect is specified in the instrument of denunciation it shall take effect upon the expiration of such longer period after its deposit with the depositary. 
(3) Notwithstanding such a denunciation, this Convention shall nevertheless apply to a claim for restitution or a request for return of a cultural object submitted prior to the date on which the denunciation takes effect. 

Article 20 

The President of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit) may at regular intervals, or at any time at the request of five Contracting States, convene a special committee in order to review the practical operation of this Convention. 

Article 21 

(1) This Convention shall be deposited with the Government of the Italian Republic. 
(2) The Government of the Italian Republic shall: 

  1. inform all States which have signed or acceded to this Convention and the President of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit) of:
    1. each new signature or deposit of an instrument of ratification, acceptance approval or accession, together with the date thereof;
    2. each declaration made in accordance with this Convention;
    3. the withdrawal of any declaration;
    4. the date of entry into force of this Convention;
    5. the agreements referred to in Article 13;
    6. the deposit of an instrument of denunciation of this Convention together with the date of its deposit and the date on which it takes effect;
      7.
  2. transmit certified true copies of this Convention to all signatory States, to all States acceding to the Convention and to the President of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit).
  3. perform such other functions customary for depositaries.
    4.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned plenipotentiaries, being duly authorised, have signed this Convention. 
DONE at Rome, this twenty-fourth day of June, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-five, in a single original, in the English and French languages, both texts being equally authentic. 

Annex 

  1. Rare collections and specimens of fauna, flora, minerals and anatomy, and objects of palaeontological interest;
  2. property relating to history, including the history of science and technology and military and social history, to the life of national leaders, thinkers, scientists and artists and to events of national importance;
  3. products of archaeological excavations (Including regular and clandestine) or of archaeological discoveries;
  4. elements of artistic or historical monuments or archaeological sites which have been dismembered;
  5. antiquities more than one hundred years old, such as inscriptions, coins and engraved seals;
  6. objects of ethnological interest;
  7. property of artistic interest, such as:
    1. pictures, paintings and drawings produced entirely by hand on any support and in any material (excluding industrial designs and manufactured articles decorated by hand);
    2. original works of statuary art and sculpture in any material;
    3. original engravings, prints and lithographs;
    4. original artistic assemblages and montages in any material;
      5.
  8. rare manuscripts and incunabula, old books, documents and publications of special interest (historical, artistic, scientific, literary, etc.) singly or in collections;
  9. postage stamps, revenue and similar stamps, singly or in collections;
  10. archives, including sound, photographic and cinematographic archives;

    11. articles of furniture more than one hundred years old and old musical instruments. 
     
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