Return or Restitution of Cultural Property to the Countries of Origin

A/RES/61/52No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 43Return and restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin, published in 2007.

What other versions does this mandate have?

18 versions · 1979–2024

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/79/133

2024A/RES/79/133Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of originLatestCompare with previous version
2021A/RES/76/16Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of originCompare with previous version
2018A/RES/73/130Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of originCompare with previous version
2015A/RES/70/76Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of originCompare with previous version
2013A/RES/67/80Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of originCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

19 topics

Codes of Conduct Cooperation Between Organizations Cultural Property Cultural Property Protection Cultural Property Restitution Databases Declarations Destruction of Property Ethics Illicit Traffic Information Dissemination Information Exchange Inventories Police Principles Report Preparation Standards Training Programmes Trust Funds

What does this mandate say?

22 operative paragraphs

Commends the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation on the work they have accomplished, in particular through the promotion of bilateral negotiations, for the return or restitution of cultural property, the preparation of inventories of movable cultural property and the implementation of the Object-ID standard related thereto, as well as for the reduction of illicit traffic in cultural property and the dissemination of information to the public;

Calls upon all relevant bodies, agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system and other relevant intergovernmental organizations to work in coordination with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, within their mandates and in cooperation with Member States, in order to continue to address the issue of return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin and to provide appropriate support accordingly;

Welcomes the adoption by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on 17 October 2003 of the Declaration concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage;6

Reaffirms the importance of the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property,2 as well as the Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law,4 and of their implementation, and invites Member States that have not already done so to consider becoming parties to these Conventions;

Recognizes the importance of the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage5 and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions,7 notes that these Conventions have still not entered into force, and invites Member States that have not already done so to consider becoming parties to these Conventions;

Also recognizes the importance of the United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property,8 notes that this Convention has still not entered into force, and invites Member States that have not already done so to consider becoming parties to the Convention;

Reaffirms the importance of the principles and provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict,1 and of their implementation, and invites Member States that have not already done so to become parties to the Convention;

Also reaffirms the importance of the Second Protocol to the Convention, adopted at The Hague on 26 March 1999, and of its implementation, and invites all States parties to the Convention that have not already done so to consider becoming parties to the Second Protocol;

Welcomes the most recent efforts made by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization for the protection of the cultural heritage of countries in conflict, including the safe return to those countries of cultural property and other items of archaeological, historical, cultural, rare scientific and religious importance that have been illegally removed, and calls upon the international community to contribute to these efforts;

Urges Member States to introduce effective national and international measures to prevent and combat illicit trafficking in cultural property, including special training for police, customs and border services;

Invites Member States, in cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to continue to draw up systematic inventories of their cultural property, as well as to work towards the creation of a database of their national cultural legislation, in particular in electronic format;

Welcomes the launch of the Cultural Heritage Laws Database of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2005, and invites Member States to provide their legislation in electronic format for inclusion in the database, to provide regular updates to the database and to promote it;

Reaffirms the efforts of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to promote the use of identification systems, in particular the application of the Object-ID standard, and to encourage the linking of identification systems and existing databases, including the one developed by Interpol, to allow for the electronic transmission of information in order to reduce illicit trafficking in cultural property, and encourages the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to make further efforts in this regard in cooperation with Member States, where appropriate;

Recognizes the revision of the Statutes of the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation to include mediation and conciliation processes, and invites Member States to consider the possibility of using such processes as appropriate;

Welcomes the development of the model export certificate for cultural objects by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Customs Organization as a tool to combat illicit trafficking in cultural property, and invites Member States to consider adopting the model export certificate as their national export certificate, in accordance with domestic law and procedures;

Notes the decision taken in resolution 45, adopted on 20 October 2005 by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization at its thirty-third session, that the subject of cultural objects displaced in connection with the Second World War should be the subject of a non-binding standard-setting instrument;7

Recognizes the public awareness and increased mobilization and action in favour of heritage values that was achieved in 2002, the United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage, and calls upon the international community and the United Nations to continue to cooperate with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on the basis of that work;

Welcomes the endorsement of the International Code of Ethics for Dealers in Cultural Property by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on 16 November 1999, which was adopted in January 1999 by the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation, and invites those who deal with trade in cultural property and their associations, where they exist, to encourage the implementation of the Code;

Recognizes the importance of the creation, by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, of the International Fund for the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation, launched in November 2000, and encourages the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to continue to promote the Fund and render it operational;

Requests the Secretary-General to cooperate with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in its efforts to bring about the attainment of the objectives of the present resolution;

Also requests the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-fourth session the item entitled “Return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin”.

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