Legal twist to removed antiquities

[Epictetus]

Evidently the European Court of Human Rights will consider the case of antiquities moved from their place of origin. Turkey intends to sue the British Museum over artefacts from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.

I assume if they win, we will see a plethora of lawsuits. I think both Greece and Egypt have tried to recover some objects moved from their countries. The "Elgin Marbles" in particular come to mind.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/d...res-rights

[M. Demetrius]

I have some friends who are attorneys, and I mean no disrespect, but the legal fees will be in the billions before all this is worked out, if it ever is settled.

The implications are that every museum everywhere could only display articles that were produced originally in that country. Eventually, all Roman artifacts would have to be returned to Italy or other parts of the Roman Empire where they were produced, etc. Museum shelves and displays in New York would only contain objects produced in the NE United States. What a mess, if precedent is set.

Most museums can hardly keep their doors open as it is. If they must pay out trainloads of money to keep their artifacts, we will all lose.
:unsure:

[PhilusEstilius]

With no dis-respect at all to any of these countries who have been shouting for years now to have objects and artifacts returned, would it be a good thing for many of them lack the facilities or the finance to be able to take the care needed of them to preserve for posterity.

[jkaler48]

I can imagine some real horror stories here as weather disasters war riots or religious radicals destroy priceless artifacts in countries lacking the funds interest or desire to properly protect them.
I can even see some scenarios where a country might sue to have something returned in order to destroy it or prevent it from being seen by anyone!

[Epictetus]

I find it interesting that removed antiquities are even in this court's jurisdiction. From its website:

It rules on individual or State applications alleging violations of the civil and political rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights.

So the possession of artefacts taken from an area could be considered a right for those now living in that area? That in itself is a big step, but it could even raise more questions. Would the modern state of Greece have claims on artefacts or sites in the modern state of Turkey?

This could be very complicated.

[M. Demetrius]

Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and other presidents are given credit for saying, "That government governs best that governs least." While no one knows for sure who actually said it, the statement seems to test true in almost all circumstances. The more government bureaucrats that are involved in this issue or any other, the more messy, inefficient, and expensive *whatever it is* becomes. When governments from several different nations converge on one single topic, it becomes instantly unmanageable.

Whenever one opens a can of worms, it always takes a bigger can to get them all back in. If this law is allowed to stand, nothing good will come of it, regardless of how lofty the motives of the legislators was.