The UNIDROIT International Convention on the International Return od Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects was adopted by a Diplomatic Conference of 70 participating States plus 8 observer States in Rome on 24 June 1995. When ratified, it will allow bi-lateral access to the courts etc. of participating countries for lawsuits in which the law of the country of EXPORT will apply in defining `stolen' or `illegally exported'. This new Interrnational Treaty is likely to be extremely important - it has been under discussion for many years within both the cultural field and the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT). I hope that the full text will; be posted on either our Departmental www systems and/or ICOM as soon as I have time to scan and HTML format it - later this week I hope. I will post details on MUSEUM-L and CIDOC-L and copy to Cary Karp for the other ICOM systems as soon as this is done. Patrick Boylan (Vice-Pres. of ICOM) [log in to unmask] ================================================ On Thu, 6 Jul 1995, Peter Rauch wrote: > (Cross-posted to [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], > [log in to unmask] Please bear with it.) > > The June 1995 issue of the ASC Newsletter (Association of Systematics > Collections) has an article about "UNIDROIT Treaty Under Negotiation: > Could Broaden Repatriation Claims to Include Flora and Fauna." > > "The UNIDROIT Convention on the International Return of Stolen or > Illegally Exported Cultural Objects is currently being negotiated, > with the most recent meeting taking place in Rome in June, 1995. The > definition of "cultural object" includes flora and fauna. The term > "illegally exported" includes materials that are claimed as cultural > patrimony and hence are claimed to be under sovereign control by various > national governments." The article goes on to detail various developments > in recent negotiotions, and in particular the US government's and ASC's > positions. > > This is NAGPRA's big brother! This is Federal Register Notice" 50 CFR 13-14's > soul mate. How come no one has raised it for discussion in these forums, > where our collection artifacts and specimens represent the targets of the > Convention's attention? > Peter R >