The Dutch Ratification of UNESCO: Implementation Acts and the Protection of Cultural Property (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) (Essay‪)‬

1. INTRODUCTION The UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, referred to hereafter as the UNESCO 1970 Convention, or, simply, the Convention, was adopted on 14th November 1970 in Paris. On 1st July 2009, nearly 39 years later, two Dutch statutes came into force, namely the Ratification of UNESCO Act, (1) and the UNESCO Implementation Act on the illicit import, export or transfer of cultural objects, (2) the latter is referred to hereafter as the Implementation Act. That coming into force meant that, by virtue of 'the second sentence of Article 21 of the UNESCO 1970 Convention, the Netherlands acceded to the Convention on 1st October 2009.