UNESCO Cultural Heritage Laws Database

Soon there will be no excuse for collectors and dealers of portable antiquities to claim ignorance of the details of the various national laws and regulations related to importation, exportation and ownership of cultural goods. The UNESCO Cultural Heritage Laws Database which was launched in 2005 is becoming a useful online database which can be used by law-makers, lawyers, police and customs officers, art and antiquities dealers, students and researchers as well as private individuals. It offers free access to the relevant cultural heritage laws from UNESCO Member States. To date some 1150 pieces of legislation from 126 countries are made available online and can be consulted in their original language and in official English translations. The creation of this database recently receieved grant support from the USA.