February, 2006
The presentation will outline the main diplomatic and legislative measures that are likely to be required in order to ratify or accede to all or some of 1954 Hague Convention measures on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Among them are legislation that would be required to implement the general criminal provisions of the original 1954 Convention, and action against the specific war crimes defined in the 1999 Second Protocol, including measures subject to universal jurisdiction and extradition. States party to the First Protocol of 1954 will also need legislative support for measures relating to movement and transfers of ownership of cultural property located within war zones or occupied territories.
States party to Hague 1954-1999 also undertake to implement a wide range of practical measures in relation to their own territories (such as identifying and marking important cultural property, and making provision for additional wartime protection measures or evacuation), and in relation the conduct of their own armed forces in relation to the respect of cultural property whether at home or abroad (such as the adoption and enforcement of appropriate military regulations, and the provision of adequate training).