The protection of the underwater cultural heritage : an emerging objective of the contemporary law of the sea

Bibliographic Information

The protection of the underwater cultural heritage : an emerging objective of the contemporary law of the sea

Anastasia Strati

(Publications on ocean development / general editor, Shigeru Oda, v. 23)

Martinus Nijhoff, c1995

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Includes bibliographical references (p. [375]-435) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

The marine environment is almost ideal for the preservation of artefacts and, until relatively recently, it also provided complete protection from destruction by man. However, the aqualung has made most shallow underwater sites accessible, leading to widespread plundering. Current deep-sea bed technology now threatens deep water sites. There is a need for immediate international action to preserve the man-made environment, alongside the natural one. The enunciation of legal rules to protect the underwater cultural heritage is a complex issue, involving a matrix of interests and laws, both international and national. Two core issues are jurisdiction and ownership. The ownership question can be complex. The legal status of historic shipwrecks and their cargoes is a tangle of wreck, salvage and inheritance law, differing from one national legal system to another. There are no international policies on the ownership of cultural property, which is left open to domestic legislation. But the matter is sufficiently important to warrant an effective, international protection scheme. The text examines the inadequacies of the traditional regime and the contours of an emerging body of international and (mostly European) regional law.

Table of Contents

Foreword. Abbreviations. Introduction. Part One. 1. The notion of the underwater cultural heritage. 2. Underwater archaeology. 3. International and regional instruments protecting the cultural heritage. Part Two.Introduction: The law of the sea. 4. Marine spaces under the sovereignty of the coastal state. 5. The contiguous zone. 6. The high seas. 7. The continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone. 8. The international deep seabed. 9. Conclusion. Part Three. 10. Future developments. Bibliography. Annex: The ILA Draft Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. Table of cases. Table of treaties. Table of national legislation. Index.

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