Protecting Cultural Objects in Unrecognised States and Governments

Cases regarding the restitution of cultural objects are not always easy, they are often complicated by a large number of reasons. Procedural rules may hinder the return of a cultural object to its country of origin. This article analyses those procedural grounds rooted in international politics and geopolitics which deprive a state or government, not recognised by the requested State, of the litigant status to a dispute concerning the ownership of cultural objects. It also illustrates those occasions where economic sanctions imposed on a government put the restitution of cultural objects at risk; and those situations in which the ratification of a cultural convention could be jeopardize by the non-recognition of a country by the treaty depositary. The article suggests the creation of new rules or the acknowledgement of procedural narrative norms derived from international conventions to provide a thorough protection to cultural objects.