Heritage work sits inside a framework of law, international conventions and professional charters. Law tells you what you must do; charters tell you what good practice looks like. A competent practitioner knows both, and knows how they interact across jurisdictions - because most collections, and almost all digital heritage, now cross borders.

This lesson maps the major international instruments. National statutes vary widely, so the durable skill is recognising which type of instrument applies to a given decision.

International conventions

  • 1954 Hague Convention - protection of cultural property during armed conflict, with its two Protocols.
  • 1970 UNESCO Convention - prohibiting the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property; the backbone of provenance and due-diligence checks.
  • 1972 World Heritage Convention - the World Heritage List and criteria of outstanding universal value.
  • 1995 UNIDROIT Convention - restitution of stolen and illegally exported cultural objects, complementing the 1970 instrument.
  • 2003 & 2005 UNESCO Conventions - safeguarding intangible heritage and protecting diversity of cultural expressions.

Charters and doctrine

Charters are voluntary but authoritative. They are the profession's accumulated judgement:

  • Venice Charter (1964) - conservation and restoration of monuments and sites.
  • Burra Charter (Australia ICOMOS) - the values-based, significance-led process now used worldwide.
  • Nara Document on Authenticity (1994) - authenticity judged within cultural context, not a single Western standard.
  • Faro Convention (2005) - heritage as a right, centred on communities and their value in society.
In practice. Before acquiring any object, run a 1970-Convention provenance check: document the ownership chain back to 1970 where possible, and record gaps honestly. Museums following ICOM guidance will decline or return items that fail this test - and so should you.

Professional codes and management standards

Alongside heritage-specific doctrine, practitioners are bound by professional ethics such as the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums and the ICA principles for archives. Records-management law and standards - notably ISO 15489 for records management and data-protection regimes such as the GDPR - govern how you handle personal information within heritage records.

Key takeaways

  • Distinguish binding law and conventions from voluntary but authoritative charters.
  • The 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT instruments drive provenance and restitution practice.
  • Data-protection law (e.g. GDPR) and ISO 15489 apply to the personal and record content inside heritage.

Check your understanding

Last modified: Saturday, 1 August 2026, 11:03 AM