World Cultural Heritage: Obligations to the International Community as a Whole?
53 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 189–209 (2004)
Republished in De Feyter (ed.), Globalization and Common Responsibilities of States in International Law (Farnham: Ashgate, 2013)
18 Pages Posted: 1 Jan 2020 Last revised: 14 Dec 2019
Date Written: 2004
Abstract
The preamble to the World Heritage Convention declares that parts of the cultural heritage of outstanding interest 'need to be preserved as part of the world heritage of mankind as a whole’. This and other preambular recitals and operative provisions suggest that the obligation of a State party to the Convention to protect, conserve and transmit to future generations cultural sites of outstanding universal value situated in its territory is an obligation erga omnes partes, legally enforceable by any of all of the other States parties. May States, however, which are not parties to the Convention but which nonetheless represent part of 'mankind as a whole' also seek legally to compel a State party to preserve such cultural heritage? The article answers the question on the basis of a detailed account of state practice, especially in relation to the destruction by the Taliban of the Buddhas of Bamiyan.
JEL Classification: K33
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation