Part II Substantive Aspects, Ch.3 Cultural Heritage and International Humanitarian Law

Subject(s):

Individual criminal responsibility — Armed conflict — Customary international law

The beginnings of international cultural heritage law can be traced to rules on the treatment of cultural sites and objects in war—that is, to international humanitarian law, the branch of public international law dedicated to the regulation of the conduct of what we now refer to as armed conflict. Today there exists a detailed body of conventional and customary international humanitarian law designed to protect tangible cultural heritage, both immovable and movable, from destruction and damage and from all forms of misappropriation in the course of international and non-international armed conflict. The chapter provides an account and analysis of these rules.