The 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions and the UNCLOS and the 2001 Underwater Cultural Heritage Convention

The provisions of the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCHC) are specifically aimed at protecting underwater cultural heritage (UCH) as an essential component of human existence. Although no norm of the 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions mention UCH, these international instruments are undoubtedly applicable in the cases in which illicit export affects cultural objects that have been discovered and removed from the seabed. Conversely, these conventions cannot provide any protection of UCH that is submerged as its ownership is still uncertain. In order to ascertain the relationship affecting the norms of these conventions, their object and purpose must be determined particularly with regard to the range of cultural properties, which these norms aim at safeguarding. Second, attention must be paid to the diverse grounds of jurisdiction that these conventions establish to regulate the exercise of State control over UCH. Third, ownership rights affecting UCH must be taken into account in order to determine whether the safeguard of State and private prerogatives may coexist with the need to preserve UCH for the benefit of humanity.