The Illicit Trade in Art and Antiquities: International Recovery and Criminal and Civil Liability

Description

This new text provides practical guidance on the modern law relating to cultural objects which have been stolen, looted or illegally exported. It explains how English criminal law principles, including money laundering measures, apply to those who deal in cultural objects in a domestic or international setting. It discusses the recovery of works of art and antiquities in the English courts where there are competing claims between private individuals, or between individuals and the UK Government or a foreign State. Significantly, this text also provides an exposition of the law where a British law enforcement agency, or a foreign law enforcement agency, is involved in the course of criminal or civil proceedings in an English court. The growth of relevant international instruments, which include not only those devoted to the protection of mankind's cultural heritage but also those concerned with money laundering and serious organised crime, provide a backdrop to this discussion. The UK's ratification of the UNESCO Convention on Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property 1970 in 2002 is considered. The problems posed in attempting to curb trafficking in art and antiquities are explored and the effectiveness of the current law is analysed.

Janet Ulph is Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Leicester and the main author of Commercial Fraud: Civil Liability, Human Rights, and Money Laundering (Oxford University Press, 2006). Ian Smith is a barrister based in London at 11 Stone Buildings, and co-author of Smith, Owen and Bodnar, Asset Recovery: Criminal Confiscation and Civil Recovery.

The mishandling of works of art or antiquities raise a host of issues in international, civil and criminal law across different jurisdictions. Janet Ulph and Ian Smith have pulled together the different elements into a neat and extremely useful book. It works very well as a practitioner guide but includes a good academic context for the discussion. -- Richard Harwood QC, Thirty Nine Essex Street The text makes outstanding contributions to knowledge in several areas nurtures the understanding of scholars, researchers, practitioners and students interested in legal developments in the premier art market in the UK. It also provides a solid basis for comparative law study of an eminently worthwhile subject. -- Christa Roodt * Edinburgh Law Review, Volume 17 * An intelligent and thorough endeavour, this text is a great credit to its authors. -- M Michelle Gallant * Legal Studies, Volume 34, Number 1 *