Two Art and Cultural Property Law Programs You Should Attend

Where can I learn more about cultural heritage law? CHL readers will want to take advantage of two upcoming opportunities that dive into the world of art and cultural property law.

Don’t miss Looted Art and Cultural Property: Current Controversies, Future Resolutions, a program sponsored by the Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation and Fordham Art Law Society. The all-day symposium will be held on March 25 at Fordham University Law School in New York City. The event hopes to spark serious discussions about the importance of protecting cultural heritage.

Panelists include leading professionals such as Attorney Leila Amineddoleh, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos, Attorney Pierre Ciric, the Getty Trust’s Dr. James Cuno, Dr. Brian Daniels of UPenn, Attorney Kate Fitz Gibbon, Attorney Lawrence Kaye, Attorney Thomas Kline, the Antiquities Coalition’s Deborah Lehr, Attorney Howard N. Spiegler, and many more.

Registration and more information about the program can be found here.

Abbey of San Galgano, Province of Siena

And who wouldn’t want to study the relationship between international law, art law, and cultural property law ... in Italy! That is why Tulane Law School’s summer program in Siena should interest many law students.

Featuring the expertise of Dr. Patty Gerstenblith—chair of the Cultural Property Advisory Committee and director of the Center for Art, Museum and Cultural Heritage Law at DePaul College of Law—Tulane's Institute for International Law, Cultural Heritage and the Arts will start May 29 and end June 23.

Learn more about the Tulane program here.

Photo credit: Luca Biagiotti  / freeimages.com

Text copyrighted 2016 by Cultural Heritage Lawyer, a blog commenting on matters of cultural property law, art law, cultural heritage policy, antiquities trafficking, and museum risk management. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of any blog post without the express written consent of CHL is prohibited. CHL is a service of Red Arch Cultural Heritage Law & Policy Research, Inc.

Prosecutors, Detector Dogs, and Laws: 6 Law Enforcement Recommendations to Combat Transnational Cultural Heritage Trafficking

Transnational cultural heritage trafficking thrives on an opaque art and antiquities market. Attractive features of this marketplace include discretion surrounding business transactions, easy creation of shell corporations, the high probability that smuggled imports won't be detected, clever mechanisms to move money, infrequent prosecutions of traffickers, and limited regulatory resources.

Police and prosecutors need additional tools to build capacity, spot contraband, and capture the criminals. Here are six recommendations.

#1  Specialized federal prosecutors

At least two federal prosecutors should be assigned to focus exclusively on cultural heritage trafficking. One might be placed in the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington , DC and another in the criminal division at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the heart of America's art and antiquities marketplace.

Only federal prosecutors have authority to prosecute federal felony crimes like importing goods illegally or falsifying import paperwork, crimes which are typically part of antiquities trafficking.

While there have been several commendable cases where federal authorities have seized contraband antiquities and sent them back to their country of origin--particularly in New York City--few have resulted in criminal convictions. This "seize and send" policy must mature into an "investigate and indict" objective, where authorities hold individuals accountable through convictions and criminal penalties. Otherwise thieves, smugglers, fences, and their accomplices will continue to experience no specific deterrence or general deterrence that the criminal justice system uses to curb criminal conduct.

Already the seizure and forfeiture of cultural property in federal court depends on a U.S. Attorney proving that a criminal statute was violated. So it only makes sense that the individuals who commit the underlying crime should be prosecuted too. Once cultural objects are sent away to their country of origin through the seizure and forfeiture process, there is no case left to prosecute because the primary evidence has been sent away, an outcome that occurred even in a case where investigators suspected terrorist financing.

Without federal prosecutions, U.S. attorneys fail to develop the trial or investigative skills needed to uncover and describe to juries criminal networks and their subtle money trails, clandestine trafficking routes, and shell corporations used to move contraband cultural property into the American marketplace.

Specialized prosecutors would be expected to work together to support Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, which in turn would sharpen prosecutors' white collar crime skills to help guide investigations, craft search warrants, present cases before grand juries, and try cases in the courtroom. The art and cultural property theft cases successfully handled by the team of former Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Goldman and former FBI Special Agent Robert Wittman serve as an illustration. Roger Atwood's Stealing History tells some of their stories.

#2  State prosecutions

Matthew Bogdanos, a prosecutor at the New York County District Attorney’s Office, is pioneering efforts to apply state law to cultural property crimes. One example is the conviction he secured in the case of People v. Aaron Freedman. Manager of Subhash Kapoor's Art of the Past gallery in New York City, Freedman pleaded guilty in 2013 to felony conspiracy and five counts of felony criminal possession of stolen property. But we need more state prosecutors focused on these types of crimes.

While federal law has jurisdiction over illegal import cases, state law is best used to prosecute sellers of stolen cultural property. Since 2005, CHL’s author has discussed how district and county attorneys--who generally have lots of experience prosecuting property cases--may rely on state receiving stolen property statutes to target culpable sellers of cultural heritage objects.

Every state has enacted a receiving stolen property statute in some form, and these laws generally prohibit a person from selling, transporting, or receiving stolen property. State receiving stolen property laws are fundamentally similar to the National Stolen Property Act (NSPA), the federal statute that outlaws different forms of theft. But many states' laws give distinct advantages to district and county attorneys, allowing them to more easily hold dirty dealers accountable.

For example, over two-thirds of state laws require lower mental states. Where the NSPA requires proof that a criminal defendant had full knowledge that a cultural object was stolen, most state laws only require proof that the offender should know, had reason to know, had reason to believe, or simply believed that the property in a dealer's possession or offered for sale was stolen or probably stolen. A federal prosecutor would need to prove that a dealer actually knew an object was stolen, but a state prosecutor may simply need to prove that a dealer had reason to believe that an artifact had been stolen, which is a much lower legal burden.

More importantly, almost one quarter of the states have a built-in legal assumption that a dealer in goods is presumed to know an object was stolen when (a) the dealer did not reasonably gather information about whether the good was lawfully sold or delivered to the dealer, (b) acquired the good far below reasonable value, or (c) purchased or sold the good outside the regular course of business. New York Penal Law § 165.55(2) is an apt example: "A … person in the business of buying, selling or otherwise dealing in property who possesses stolen property is presumed to know that such property was stolen if he obtained it without having ascertained by reasonable inquiry that the person from whom he obtained it had a legal right to possess it."

In New York, like in other states, it is no defense that somebody else stole the property or that the property was stolen from out of state. And states, for the most part, don't require the stolen property to be valued at $5,000 or more, in contrast to the federal NSPA statute.

All these legal advantages give district and county prosecutors an edge to hold antiquities and other cultural property dealers accountable when a crime has been committed.

#3  Detector dog research

Detector dogs that could sniff out smuggled cultural heritage objects, particularly archaeological artifacts, certainly would help customs agents at U.S. ports of entry.

Huge numbers of commodities pore across America's borders each day. For customs agents to spot illicit art, antiquities, and collectibles arriving by cargo ship or air freight among the countless illegal drugs, guns, bird feathers, mangos, jellyfishes, seeds, counterfeit NFL jerseys, and the like can be overwhelming. Remember too that their highest priority is intercepting radiological, biological, and other explosives before they can cripple the homeland. That is why cultural property detector dogs could prove useful.

Sniffer dogs already have demonstrated their worth to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents by detecting pests and illegal agricultural goods. That is why research must be undertaken to see if detector dogs can be trained to identify smuggled antiquities and other cultural objects. Preliminary inquiries by Red Arch in consultation with relevant experts suggests that such a research project is worthwhile.

#4  Recordkeeping laws

When a healthy trade becomes a black market temptation for stolen and smuggled cultural heritage, new recordkeeping laws could assist prosecutors and police. These laws would require dealers, galleries, and auction houses to record the identities and transactions of suppliers and buyers of cultural property while upholding legitimate business privacy interests. See the detailed proposal here.

When pawn shops became magnets for stolen property, states overwhelmingly passed recordkeeping laws to help police as well as crime victims. States similarly passed scrap metal recordkeeping rules when stolen copper and aluminum flooded the marketplace. For banks, the USA Patriot Act enacted another kind of recordkeeping rule called Know Your Customer, which helps identify money launderers, terrorist financiers, and foreign corrupt practices within the financial industry. In like manner, law enforcement should have access to business records that would help uncover perpetrators of cultural heritage trafficking.

#5  Enhanced AML/CTF statutes

To zero in on untraceable shell corporations, laundered money, and terror financing associated with cultural heritage trafficking, existing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws (AML/CTF) need to be enhanced to include the cultural property market.

Current statutes are designed to root out criminal exploitation of highly susceptible commercial and financial industries. Yet the marketplace for art, antiquities, fossils, ancient coins, and other cultural property remain absent from this list.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the seminal inter-governmental organization focused on AML/CTF, specifically identifies illicit trafficking of cultural goods, counterfeiting of antiquities, and the illegal trade of antiquities as facilitators of money laundering and terrorist financing. Moreover, the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Office of Anti-Crime Programs specifically refers to "art dealers" when  discussing AML/CTF  objectives. The Basel Art Trade Guidelines also point out, "Far more serious than shady dealings in a legal gray area, the sector’s shadow economy encompasses issues ranging from looted art, professional counterfeiting and fake certificates to the use of art sales for the purpose of money laundering.

Pawnbrokers, car dealers, dealers in precious metals and jewels, travel agents, and other NBFI's (non-bank financial institutions) are identified by AML/CTF laws as industries where criminals are known to clandestinely move large amounts of money or discreetly convert cash into high value goods. But the art and antiquities marketplace is not included in the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA Patriot Act, and other AML/CTF statutes. This needs to change.

An additional legislative change is needed to expose cultural property smugglers who set up a myriad shell corporations to discreetly hide their business operations. They create untraceable companies that only exist on paper and whose officers remain unknown, or they use layers of shell corporations to transfer cultural contraband through a maze of paper trails to throw off investigators.

One proposal currently wending its way through the U.S. Senate seeks a solution. The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (S. 1269 and similar companion bills) calls on the Department of Homeland Security to assign a single registration number to an importers of record. That way importers can't set up multiple import companies to hide their identities or their trade activities.

[Sidebar: Setting up a separate, companion corporation is not per se illegal. But hiding illegal business transactions in a shell corporation is not. Cases involving "Bactrian Global Enterprises" and Nimbus Import Export are two examples where separate corporations were maintained. Were they for legitimate reasons or not?]

#6  Adding the cultural property market to attorneys’ general consumer protection watch lists

Cultural property crimes impact consumers who may pay substantial amounts for ancient Greek vases, Egyptian sculptures, and similar cultural heritage objects. The objects might be looted, stolen, or smuggled, or they might be fakes. Because cultural property markets contain a number of recently surfaced artifacts without documented collecting histories, or with thinly veiled collecting histories, or with entirely false histories, consumers risk purchasing illegal or fake heritage objects. That is why state attorneys general should instruct their consumer protection divisions to be watchful.

Attorneys general typically enforce laws that protect consumers against deceptive, unfair, unconscionable, and/or unlawful business practices, and they are endowed with civil and criminal legal tools to investigate illegal misconduct by a particular company or by an entire industry.

New York General Business Law § 349(a) is one statutory example that proclaims, "Deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any business, trade or commerce or in the furnishing of any service in this state are hereby declared unlawful." Executive Law § 63(12) gives the Empire State's attorney general power to investigate and issue subpoenas, even in cases where there was no actual intent to deceive. Where representations or omissions may reasonably have misled consumers, the NY attorney general can bring an action on behalf of the affected consumers.

An example of an industry-wide consumer protection investigation is NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's recent probe into abuses found within the concert and sports ticket industry. Other investigations might focus instead on a single business. Oftentimes, state attorneys general will partner each other and/or with federal consumer protection agencies to confront systematic problems that are widespread.

So when the National Association of Attorneys General meets this month, its Consumer Protection Committee should add the cultural property market to its watch list.

Photo credits: Pixabay / David Mark, Freeimages.com / Marc Dorsett, Freeimages.com / Joe Zlomec, Freeimages.com / dgood007, Freeimages.com / Bob Smith, Pixabay / Edward Lich

Text copyrighted 2016 by Cultural Heritage Lawyer, a blog commenting on matters of cultural property law, art law, cultural heritage policy, antiquities trafficking, and museum risk management. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of any blog post without the express written consent of CHL is prohibited. CHL is a service of Red Arch Cultural Heritage Law & Policy Research, Inc.

Senate Committee Rejects Cultural Property Czar; Supports Restrictions on Syrian Antiquities

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee met last week to consider the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act (H.R. 1493). It favorably reported the measure for full consideration by the senate, but rejected the legislation's creation of a cultural property czar.

The original bill passed by the House of Representatives last June called for the appointment of an Assistant Secretary of State as the new United States Coordinator for International Cultural Property Protection. The senate committee stripped this position from H.R. 1493 in a comprehensive substitute amendment that members adopted last Thursday. Generally speaking, a substitute amendment makes substantive changes to a bill and replaces significant portions of an original bill's language.

The idea for a cultural property czar first emerged in similar legislation introduced in the House in 2014. But the substitute amendment instead recommends "that the President should establish an interagency coordinating committee to coordinate and advance the efforts of the executive branch to protect and preserve international cultural property at risk." Because the amendment's language declares that "the President should" rather than "the President shall", the White House is not obligated to form the interagency committee should the measure be enacted into law.

The substitute amendment suggests that the interagency committee be chaired by an assistant secretary at the State Department and that it work to protect and preserve international cultural property, prevent and disrupt looting and trafficking, protect sites of cultural and archaeological significance, and provide for the lawful exchange of international cultural property.

The substitute amendment calls on the President to provide annual reports, over a six year period, about "the efforts of the executive branch ... to protect and preserve international cultural property, including whether an interagency coordinating committee ... has been established and, if such a committee has been established, a description of the activities undertaken by such committee, including a list of the entities participating in such activities." Senators added a specific provision so that the White House would describe "actions to implement and enforce ... the Emergency Protection for Iraqi Cultural Antiquities Act of 2004 ... including measures to dismantle international networks that traffic illegally in cultural property."

The Foreign Relations Committee embraced the second crucial part of H.R. 1493's original language, calling for emergency import protections to be placed on at-risk Syrian cultural property within 90 days of the law's passage, as opposed to the 120 days sought by the House. According to the senate committee's substitute amendment, import restrictions would be placed on Syrian archaeological and ethnological material under authority granted by the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA), "without regard to whether Syria is a State Party" to the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The CPIA is the federal law that implements key terms of the 1970 UNESCO Convention in the United States.
 
Photo credit: Rabi Samuel

Text copyrighted 2016 by Cultural Heritage Lawyer, a blog commenting on matters of cultural property law, art law, cultural heritage policy, antiquities trafficking, and museum risk management. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of any blog post without the express written consent of CHL is prohibited. CHL is a service of Red Arch Cultural Heritage Law & Policy Research, Inc.

MoUs: Italy Renewed; Egypt Still Pursued; Cambodia and Belize Get a CPAC Interlude

United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Treasury Department have promulgated rules, effective today, that extend import restrictions on archaeological material originating from Italy.

First erected by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the U.S. and Italy in 2001 and subsequently refreshed in 2006, 2011, and now 2016, the import barriers seek to deter cultural property looting and trafficking by denying entry to endangered pre-Classical, Classical, and Imperial Roman artifacts bound for the American marketplace.

The import barriers result from Italy's request for American assistance pursuant to Article 9 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.

Under import regulations authorized by the Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA), certain categories of 9th century B.C. through 4th century A.D. antiquities, armor, mosaics, jewelry, sculpture, and other archaeological material from Italy may be seized by CPB if trafficked across the U.S. border. The designated list of objects subject to the legal restrictions can be found here.

Italy asked for the latest MoU renewal in February 2015, and the Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) met in April last year to weigh the matter. The renewal process concluded within a usual time frame. By contrast, Egypt's first and only request for an MoU with the U.S. seems to have stalled without explanation.

Egypt asked CPAC to consider enacting protective import measures in April 2014, attracting a variety of public comments from preservationists, ancient coin collectors, the Association of Art Museum Directors, and other stakeholders. Yet despite CHL's admonitions in June 2011 and July 2013 for emergency legislation to protect at-risk Egyptian material, followed by a call in March 2014 to implement CPIA import restrictions "with all deliberate speed," import regulations covering ancient Egyptian artifacts still have not been approved.

CPAC, meanwhile, will be meeting in executive session next month for an interim review of MoUs covering jeopardized archaeological material from Cambodia and Belize, both approved in 2013. Public comments will be solicited at a later date should either agreement be considered for extension.

Photo credit: Matthew Strickland

Text copyrighted 2016 by Cultural Heritage Lawyer, a blog commenting on matters of cultural property law, art law, cultural heritage policy, antiquities trafficking, and museum risk management. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of any blog post without the express written consent of CHL is prohibited. CHL is a service of Red Arch Cultural Heritage Law & Policy Research, Inc.

Making a Difference: SAFE Founder Cindy Ho Awarded AIA's Outstanding Public Service Award

Indifference is a word unknown to Cindy Ho. A graphic designer and independent professional, Ms. Ho created Saving Antiquities for Everyone (SAFE) in 2003 in an effort to stop the destruction of humanity's heritage. She took action in direct response to looters ransacking the Iraqi national museum.

SAFE founder Cindy Ho

"We're dealing with a global problem that's fueled by the black-market antiquities trade," Ms. Ho announced soon after SAFE started. "It's important to inform the general public that our collective cultural heritage is in danger."

For her distinguished accomplishments and unwavering resolve, the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) last week conferred its prestigious Outstanding Public Service Award on Ms. Ho during a ceremony held at the Hilton Hotel in San Francisco, California.

"To know and not to act is not to know," she exhorted, quoting Chinese philosopher Wang Yangming, inspiring ceremony attendees to apply their collective knowledge to protect cultural heritage.

Ms. Ho's energy and perseverance propelled SAFEto become the preeminent grassroots organization dedicated to preserving the past through public awareness. During her leadership, spanning the time of its founding through 2014, SAFE spearheaded widely popular projects such as

• the annual Global Candlelight Vigil, commemorating the looting of the Iraq Museum;
• the Say Yes campaigns, rallying public support for import controls to protect endangered archaeological artifacts;
• the Beacon Awards, honoring notable defenders of cultural heritage; and
• social media messaging and podcasts, making the world of antiquities trafficking familiar to everyday Americans.

A lasting legacy of Ms. Ho's endeavors has been a new generation of cultural property professionals and stakeholders--including archaeologists, museum personnel, conservators, auction house employees, and collectors--who are keenly aware of archaeological site looting and antiquities smuggling.

In her acceptance speech, the SAFE founder celebrated this notable change over the last thirteen years, declaring that "others are paying attention in a significant way."

But much more needs to be done because what hasn't changed, Ms. Ho warned, is "the no questions asked antiquities trade is still the incentive for looting and destruction." With a call for greater action resounding in her voice, she asked, "How can we possibly tell our children and our children's children that the connection to their past is no longer possible because it has been sold off....?"

Former Director General of the National Museum of Iraq and a past professor at Stony Brook University in New York, the late Dr. Donny George Youkhanna, hailed SAFE’s work several years ago as "critical ... for the heritage of mankind," and declared, "All those who enjoy the benefits of democracy have a duty to stand up and support those actions that will stop the destruction of history.”

Cindy Ho, in fact, stood up to secure the future of archaeology, history, and culture. Because she did so, SAFE's architect demonstrated how one citizen can make a world of difference.

It is no surprise then that the AIAlast Thursday praised Ms. Ho's "tireless efforts in raising public awareness about the need to safeguard archaeological heritage."

The AIA boasts over 200,000 members and is North America's largest and oldest archaeological society, chartered by Congress in 1906. Its public service award is presented annually to a recipient who makes exceptional contributions to archaeology and the preservation of the archaeological record.

Text copyrighted 2016 by Cultural Heritage Lawyer, a blog commenting on matters of cultural property law, art law, cultural heritage policy, antiquities trafficking, and museum risk management. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com.Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of any blog post without the express written consent of CHL is prohibited. CHL is a service of Red Arch Cultural Heritage Law & Policy Research, Inc.

"Antiques" from Iraq: Trade Stats Raise Questions

Iraq has been identified as a source of conflict antiquities, which is why the International Council of Museums refreshed its Red List of endangered Iraqi cultural property in June 2014 and why the United Nations Security Council last February unanimously adopted a resolution targeting heritage trafficking in the region as a source of terror funding.

With this in mind, it is surprising that “antiques" ranked as the #4 declared import to the United States from Iraq by value in 2014, the latest date for which complete data is available from the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). In fact, there were more antiques imported from Iraq than goods like lambskin leather, dates and figs, fruit juices, and even spices.

Totaling $3,378,296 in general customs value, these antique imports “of an age exceeding 100 years” were outpaced in value only by America’s largest and most predictable import from Iraq, namely crude oil (#1) and non-crude oil (#2), as well as reimports of various articles originally exported from the U.S. (#3).

Importers of record are legally responsible for declaring goods on customs entry forms by supplying information such as proper value, correct country of origin, accurate Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) classification, and complete product description. Of course there are many examples of traffickers who try to skirt their obligations in an effort to smuggle cultural heritage objects into the U.S. illegally, which is why antiques imports from Iraq should be scrutinized.

It is not known how many legal or illegal antiquities importers brought into the U.S. from Iraq last year. What is known is that declared imports of  "antiques" classified under HTS 9706 originated from a war zone where cultural heritage is in jeopardy. What commodities were exactly shipped to American ports of entry and why, in fact, did the bulk of declared HTS 9706 commodities originating from Iraq--$3,330,619 worth--get shipped to New York City remains a mystery, at least for now.

Were these imports deliberately misclassified to plausibly conceal illegally dug-up ancient tablets, foundation cones, sculptures, and more? Possibly. Or did a legal trade in vintage trays and antique coffee pots actually spike for some reason because of the conflict? Customs officials should find out for certain, particularly given the identified threat posed to archaeological site looting and museum and storehouse theft as a result of the unrest in Iraq.

There is another interesting observation. Among the 37 kinds of commodities imported into the U.S. from Iraq in 2014, antiques, together with with three other types of goods categorized under the broad import category of HTS 97 Works of Art, Collectors’ Pieces and Antiques, exceeded all other imports by value of primary Iraqi origin, except oil. The declared value of the HTS 97 commodities together totaled $3,554,595. So customs officials should also find out what goods importers actually classified as collections and collectors’ pieces of historical, archaeological, or numismatic interest under HTS 9705; as original sculptures and statuary under HTS 9703; and as paintings under HTS 9701.

One armed group operating in both Iraq and Syria is the terror organization ISIS, which reportedly has exploited cultural property as an important revenue stream. Suspiciously, the #1 U.S. category of imports by value from Syria in 2014 was “Antiques.” And now USITC trade data show that American imports from Iraq unveil further red flags.

Until the fighting subsides, and until customs officials learn more about the unanswered questions swirling around American imports of Iraqi cultural heritage goods, collectors would be well-advised not to buy heritage material from the region, or at least exercise rigorous due diligence when buying, in order to steer clear of acquiring potential ISIS loot.

Photo credit: Sam LeVan

Copyright notice: Although the data presented here is sourced from publicly available information, it is an original work of authorship that has been carefully selected, coordinated, arranged, and analyzed so that it is an original work of authorship subject to copyright protection as a compilation and/or a derivative work by CHL. The publication, retransmission, or broadcast of this compiled data is strictly prohibited without CHL's express consent.

Text copyrighted 2016 by Cultural Heritage Lawyer, a blog commenting on matters of cultural property law, art law, cultural heritage policy, antiquities trafficking, and museum risk management. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of any blog post without the express written consent of CHL is prohibited. CHL is a service of Red Arch Cultural Heritage Law & Policy Research, Inc.

MinterEllison announces senior appointments

Very excited to be promoted to Senior Associate in the Insurance and Corporate Risk team from 1 January 2016.

Further information: http://www.minterellison.com/news/senior_appointments_jan-2016/.