Improving the Principle of Cooperation Against Illegal Movement of Cultural Property

Abstract

On 13th January 2009, Italy returned to Bulgaria 2,200 archaeological objects that had been taken from illegal excavations. This article aims at demonstrating that this and another analogous cases contribute to the affirmation and the progressive development of the principle of cooperation against illegal movement of cultural property. This principle is a very important one since it allows, inter alia, the treatment of cases that are not covered by the existing international and European instruments. This article will describe the restitution of the 2,200 archaeological objects, focusing on the procedures followed and the international provisions applied by Bulgarian and Italian authorities to reach solution, in order to illustrate the content and development of the principle of cooperation against illegal movement of cultural property. Some considerations concerning the international provisions utilised as the basis of the restitution will also be noted. The Italian and Bulgarian behaviour in the two relevant restitution cases bear witness to the will of these countries to cooperate in the restitution of illegally excavated and illegally exported objects and, thus, their interest in cooperating against illegal movement of cultural objects. This cooperation can constitute an example for other countries.

Keywords: archaeological object, cultural property, illegal excavation, restitution, customary international law