Cultural property
(1) (o) “Cultural property” means, irrespective of origin or ownership:
[Commentary]
- Movable or immovable property of great importance to the cultural heritage of every people, such as monuments of architecture, art or history, whether religious or secular; archaeological sites; groups of buildings which, as a whole, are of historical or artistic interest; works of art; manuscripts, books and other objects of artistic, historical or archaeological interest; as well as scientific collections and important collections of books or archives or of reproductions of the property defined above;
[Commentary]
- Buildings whose main and effective purpose is to preserve or exhibit the movable cultural property defined in sub-paragraph (i) such as museums, large libraries and depositories of archives, and refuges intended to shelter, in the event of armed conflict, the movable cultural property defined in sub-paragraph (i);
[Commentary]
- Centres containing a large amount of cultural property as defined in sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii).
[Commentary]
- The substance of this Rule is almost identical to Art. 1 of the 1954 Hague Convention, which offers the most comprehensive definition of cultural property. Most other treaties only refer to components of the definition, such as (i) “buildings dedicated to religion, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments”;[61] (ii) “historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions”;[62] or (iii) “historic monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples”.[63]
- The list of examples contained in (i) and (ii) of Rule 1 (o) is not intended to be exhaustive, as indicated by the term “such as”.
- Art. 27 of the 1907 Hague Regulations: “In sieges and bombardments all necessary steps must be taken to spare, as far as possible, buildings dedicated to religion, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not being used at the time for military purposes. It is the duty of the besieged to indicate the presence of such buildings or places by distinctive and visible signs, which shall be notified to the enemy beforehand.”
- Art. 1 of the Roerich Pact: “The historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural in-stitutions shall be considered as neutral and as such respected and protected by belligerents. The same respect and protection shall be due to the personnel of the institutions mentioned above. The same respect and protection shall be accorded to the historic monuments, museums, scientific, artistic, educational and cultural institutions in time of peace as well as in war.”
- Art. 53 (a) of AP/I: “Without prejudice to the provisions of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 14 May 1954, and of other relevant international instruments, it is prohibited: (a) to commit any acts of hostility directed against the historic monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute the cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples.”
- The definition of Rule 1 (o) (i) covers all cultural property of great importance to the cultural heritage of every people. The phrase “the cultural heritage of every people” in the 1954 Hague Convention has led to differing interpretations. One line of approach is that the phrase refers to the cultural heritage of all peoples jointly, whereas another school of thought adheres to the view that the cultural heritage of each people (severally) must be respected.
- Cultural property may be movable or immovable; religious or secular. The definition also covers buildings and centres containing such cultural property.
- This part of the definition relates to museums, libraries and archives. What counts here is not the nature of the buildings as such (which may have no historical or “artistic” interest, as per Rule 1 (o) (i)), but relates to the movable cultural property which is preserved in these buildings.
- Centres containing a large amount of cultural property may consist of entire towns (like Venice or Bruges) that encompass cultural property. The definition extends even to those parts of the town which do not qualify per se as cultural property under Rule 1 (o) (i) and Rule 1 (o) (ii).
Categories: Section A: Definitions
