Abstract
This Note argues that U.S. courts should adopt a uniform approach in assessing litigants' conduct to adjudicate art theft disputes. Part I discusses the history of the UNESCO Convention and the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (the "CPIA" or "Implementation Act") and sets forth article 7(b) of the Convention which bans the import of stolen cultural property. Part II highlights the uncertainty in U.S. state and federal courts' application of common law principles to controversies concerning title to stolen art. Part III advocates the application of uniform standards in the adjudication of art theft disputes and the reconciliation of the conflict between article 7(b)(ii) of the UNESCO Convention and U.S. jurisprudence. This Note concludes that international art theft litigants must be subject to evenhanded judicial treatment that embraces the spirit of the UNESCO Convention, while applying the letter of the Implementation Act to facilitate the return of cultural property to its country of origin.
Recommended Citation
Maritza F. Bolaño,
International Art Theft Disputes: Harmonizing Common Law Principles with Article 7(b) of the UNESCO Convention,
15 Fordham Int'l L.J. 129
(1991).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj/vol15/iss1/4