Protecting Cultural Property in Armed Conflict: An Insight into the 1999 Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict

In 2009 it was ten years since the adoption of the Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of an Armed Conflict. To celebrate this anniversary, a variety of contributions, focussing on the legal and cultural aspects of the Protocol are presented by Van Woudenberg and Lijnzaad. The innovative aspects of the Second Protocol such as enhanced protection, criminal responsibility and jurisdiction, and the protection of cultural property in armed conflicts not of an international character are addressed. Some country-specific studies are included. It is hoped that this publication will inspire States to accede to the Protocol and that it will serve as a source of inspiration to legal advisers, military personnel and cultural property experts.

Nout van Woudenberg is legal counsel at the International Law Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, where he has worked since 1998. Within the Division, he is -amongst others- responsible for the international legal aspects of cultural property and its protection. Since 2007, the Netherlands is one of the members of the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict under the 1999 Second Protocol; Van Woudenberg currently acts as vice-Chairman of this Committee.

Liesbeth Lijnzaad is the Legal Adviser, Head of the International Law Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,where she has worked since 1994. She participated in the Diplomatic Conference of March 1999, where the 1999 Second Protocol was adopted. She is an expert on international humanitarian law.