The article deals with various features of the realization of state policy on the protection of cultural heritage, the peculiarities of the participation of member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in international legal agreements (UNESCO, UNIDROIT), the status of cultural property that was relocated and at present is in the territory of modern Russia as a result of the Second World War. The author maintains that the international legal regulation of the status of cultural property is based on the interaction and complementarity of national and international legal measures, with priority given to international measures. The dominant role of international law is expressed in the drafting of classification criteria for the world’s cultural heritage to separate it from the general category of cultural values, and in the creation of special institutional international mechanisms for its protection. Therefore the article gives recommendations for the harmonization of legislation, the conclusion of new international contracts, the realization of educational programs, and provisions for the legal protection of world cultural heritage sites.
Commonwealth of Independent States
cultural heritage
cultural values
public order
UNIDROIT
UNESCO
compensatory restitution
relocated cultural property
Ihar Martynenka is the chair of the Department of Civil Law and Process of Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno (Belarus), Associate professor, Member of the Belorussian committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), and the head of the international project of international and national legal systems of protection of the historical and cultural heritage of the CIS countries. The sphere of his scientific interests covers: problems of protecting cultural heritage and the comparative analysis of the legislation of European countries on cultural heritage protection. He has 24 years of work experience in jurisprudence, including 14 years in the Office of the Public Prosecutor. He is the author of 210 scientific articles, including 6 books published in 12 countries.
e-mail: martinenko@tut.by
