International and Intergovernmental Legal Experience: Chief of the International Standards Section at UNESCO (2002-2007)
Treaty Implementation and State Responsibility
Responsible for managing and implementing worldwide six multilateral UNESCO treaties on the protection of art and cultural property, in particular:
1-3) the 1954 Convention, and its two 1954 and 1999 Protocols, on the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflict
Key issues : armed conflict, humanitarian law, property law, state responsibility, military necessity, spoils of war, looting, restitution claims, public and private international law
States Parties : currently 126 (Convention), 103 (First Protocol, 1954), 68 (Second Protocol, 1999)
4) the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property
Key issues (currently for 128 States Parties): international trade in art, export certificates, illegal export, theft, restitution claims, property, public and private international law
5) the 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage
Key issues (currently for 50 States Parties): law of the sea, maritime law, salvage law, law of finds, protection of the underwater cultural heritage anywhere on the seabed, protection in situ, research and exploitation of shipwrecks
6) UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage
It was adopted by the General Conference on 17 October 2003 (Responsible until 2004)
Key issues: governance of intangible heritage, know-how, IP law
UNESCO expert in parliamentary sessions of Member States devising and drafting treaty-implementing legislation
UNESCO expert in national, regional and international expert meetings, also in other International Organizations (EU, WTO, WIPO, WCO, etc.)