On Tuesday, the Government fulfilled its promise to formally ratify the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and acceed to its two Protocols. The Convention sets rules which are designed to protect cultural property from destruction and looting during armed conflict.
CIfA Chief Executive Peter Hinton said:
"Despite the long wait, this is a huge achievement for the UK, which joins France as the only UN Security Council member which has ratified the Convention and both its Protocols. We congratulate Government on taking this action and applaud the signal it sends about the UK's commitment to protecting cultural heritage around the world, particularly in light of recent terrible events like the destruction at Palmyra in 2015.
That the UK recognises the international importance of cultural property is extremely encouraging. However, we hope the Government does not lose sight of its record on according protection to the historic environment at home, as there is a danger that this achievement could be tarnished if the historic environment protection regimes around the UK continue to erode under the weight of cumulative impacts of deregulatory planning reform and pressure on local services.
We would also like to congratulate the UK Committee for the Blue Shield, who have led the fight to make the ratification of the Convention a reality for many years."
More details can be found here.
