The international practice of the past forty years shows the proliferation of a great variety of disputes concerning tangible cultural heritage. These mostly consist of inter-State and private claims about artworks stolen or illegally exported, and controversies regarding the protection of monuments and cultural spaces, not only from war-like situations, but also from non-violent processes, such as the realization of investment projects. This book discusses whether an improvement in the manner in which these disputes are dealt with may enhance the international protection of cultural heritage. ... More

The international practice of the past forty years shows the proliferation of a great variety of disputes concerning tangible cultural heritage. These mostly consist of inter-State and private claims about artworks stolen or illegally exported, and controversies regarding the protection of monuments and cultural spaces, not only from war-like situations, but also from non-violent processes, such as the realization of investment projects. This book discusses whether an improvement in the manner in which these disputes are dealt with may enhance the international protection of cultural heritage. Given the lack of a specialized tribunal, this book examines this question by focusing on existing judicial and extra-judicial means of dispute settlement. First, it looks at the process of cross-fertilization, i.e. the practice with which adjudicators refer to and borrow decisions from each other in order to cope with the problems posed by the disputes pending before them. Second, it focuses on the substance of such interaction and identifies a number of culturally-sensitive parameters–the “common rules of adjudication”. This book’s central argument is that the adoption of a cross-fertilizing perspective on the part of adjudicators–aimed at using and disseminating the common rules of adjudication–can enhance the effectiveness and coherence of decision-making processes and can be conducive to the development of a lex culturalis. This can be defined as a body of rules aiming to enhance the protection of cultural heritage by excluding the mechanical application of the norms enacted for ordinary goods.