I celebrated back in 2003 when the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act came into force. I thought that this was the end of unscrupulous dealers and holidaymakers importing antiquities into the UK.
For years I had seen people bring objects in to the museums where I worked that had been looted from sites across the world or exported from countries that had signed the Unesco Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. But there was nothing that I could do to ensure that the object was returned to its country of origin; I could only send the person away again.
A year ago a member of the public brought a Roman ring into Derby Museum and Art Gallery for identification. The 'owner' had found it while on holiday in Turkey at Ephesus. It was not just any old ring, it contained a semi-precious stone intaglio with a portrait of the Roman emperor Lucius Verus.
We consulted specialists from a national museum all of whom thought that the ring should be returned to Turkey but offered no help in how to do this. The Museums Association and the Cultural Property Unit at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport referred us to each other, before agreeing that our decision to report the item to the Derbyshire Police was probably the right one.
Derbyshire Police were fantastic. At first they were not sure what the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 was, but when they realised that no one had ever been prosecuted under the act they came round to the museum quite quickly. They could have gone down in history as the first police force to successfully use the act, but part way through the interview we were informed that it wasn't going to be dealt with by the police, but HM Revenue and Customs. Apparently import laws relating to the non-payment of duty were considered the best legislation to ensure that the ring was returned to Turkey.
In the end this worked and in May the ring was presented to Sermin Ozduran, the director of Turkish Culture and Tourism for the UK, at East Midlands Airport.
Why then do I feel a bit of a let down? The Dealing in Cultural Objects Act was designed 'specifically to combat traffic in unlawfully removed cultural objects', but it is apparently hardly worth the paper that it is
written on. It contains the line 'it is an offence for any person dishonestly to deal in a cultural object that is tainted, knowing or believing the object is tainted'. This means that anyone can just deny that they knew that the object was historic, culturally of interest and unlawfully obtained, or that it was covered by the act. Yes, it has raised awareness of the issues, but is it really the correct legislation for today?
Jonathan Wallis is the assistant head of museums at Derby Museums and Art Gallery
For years I had seen people bring objects in to the museums where I worked that had been looted from sites across the world or exported from countries that had signed the Unesco Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. But there was nothing that I could do to ensure that the object was returned to its country of origin; I could only send the person away again.
A year ago a member of the public brought a Roman ring into Derby Museum and Art Gallery for identification. The 'owner' had found it while on holiday in Turkey at Ephesus. It was not just any old ring, it contained a semi-precious stone intaglio with a portrait of the Roman emperor Lucius Verus.
We consulted specialists from a national museum all of whom thought that the ring should be returned to Turkey but offered no help in how to do this. The Museums Association and the Cultural Property Unit at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport referred us to each other, before agreeing that our decision to report the item to the Derbyshire Police was probably the right one.
Derbyshire Police were fantastic. At first they were not sure what the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act 2003 was, but when they realised that no one had ever been prosecuted under the act they came round to the museum quite quickly. They could have gone down in history as the first police force to successfully use the act, but part way through the interview we were informed that it wasn't going to be dealt with by the police, but HM Revenue and Customs. Apparently import laws relating to the non-payment of duty were considered the best legislation to ensure that the ring was returned to Turkey.
In the end this worked and in May the ring was presented to Sermin Ozduran, the director of Turkish Culture and Tourism for the UK, at East Midlands Airport.
Why then do I feel a bit of a let down? The Dealing in Cultural Objects Act was designed 'specifically to combat traffic in unlawfully removed cultural objects', but it is apparently hardly worth the paper that it is
written on. It contains the line 'it is an offence for any person dishonestly to deal in a cultural object that is tainted, knowing or believing the object is tainted'. This means that anyone can just deny that they knew that the object was historic, culturally of interest and unlawfully obtained, or that it was covered by the act. Yes, it has raised awareness of the issues, but is it really the correct legislation for today?
Jonathan Wallis is the assistant head of museums at Derby Museums and Art Gallery
