Cultural Heritage and the Law: looking for a definition

Cultural heritage is a multifaceted concept that includes elements that vary depending on their nature (movable/immovable, tangible/intangible), location (on land or underwater) and context (time of peace or wartime). Each situation is governed by a different set of International norms that are is provided in one or more multilateral conventions, including some rules specifically dedicated to the conservation of the so called indigenous peoples’ cultural heritage. The article argues that the range of meanings encompassed by the term ‘cultural heritage’ as used now in International law and related areas has grown far beyond the much narrower definitions included on a text by text basis. Then it explores whether this ‘fragmentation’ of cultural heritage law may affect the enforcement of protectionist rules in different States, depending on their level of implementation of the relevant treaty rules applicable to a given situation or element and, in particular, whether and to what extent, in spite of the multiplicity of treaties, we may find a set of universally accepted general principles, a sort of ‘least common denominator’ underpinning this vast body of international law, that are valid for all States, independent of their consent to be bound by treaty provisions or whether they have accepted a wide or narrow definition of cultural heritage in their domestic law.