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The Unidroit Convention of 24 June 1995 on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects entered into force for Greece.

Advisory Committee on the Assessment of Restitution Applications for Items of Cultural Value and the Second World War (ed.). Report 2009. The Hague: 2010. 88 pp. No ISBN or ISSN. No price. This is the last annual report of the Dutch Advisory Committee on Restitution. The report informs the public of 16 applications in which the return of art objects have been demanded in 2009. In about 50% of cases, the objects were returned. The applications of the other 50% were rejected.

The Institute for Archaeological Studies of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, organized a conference on legal issues concerning archaeology and theft of antiquities. This meeting was stimulated by the German statute (Kulturgüterrückgabegesetz version of May 18, 2007) implementing the UNESCO convention of November 14, 1970, the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. Archaeologists are afraid that the new legal regime might encourage thieves and art dealers to localize their activities in Germany. Michael Müller-Karpe of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz, Germany, articulated these fears. Five reports on tomb robbery in Africa (Peter Breunig), Europe (Rüdiger Krause), Mediterranean countries (Hans-Markus von Kaenel, Wulf Raeck), and the Near East (Jan-Waalke Meyer) gave a bleak picture of contemporary dangers to archaeological sites and archaeological objects. Kurt Siehr gave the paper, "Legal Aspects of the Protection of Cultural Property," stressing that the ratification and implementation of the 1970 UNESCO convention will improve the protection of cultural property in Germany. However, he also emphasized that the implementing statute could have provided stronger measures: Germany should ratify the UNIDROIT Convention of June 24, 1995, on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects as already urged by most German archaeologists and museums.

On June 1, 2005, the Swiss Cultural Property Transfer Act (CPTA) of 2003 entered into force. This statute implements for Switzerland the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. According to article 7 of the CPTA—along the line followed by the United States in their implementation statute—bilateral agreements must be stipulated with contracting states of the convention so these states will be protected in Switzerland with respect to the items mentioned in these agreements. Yves Fischer and Benno Widmer of the Federal Office for Culture explained the CPTA and the Ordinance on Cultural Property Transfer (CPTO) and mentioned that with Peru and Greece agreements have already been achieved and that agreements with Italy, Egypt, and Mexico are in preparation. Marc-André Renold, director of the Geneva-based Institute of Art and Law, presided the session when question were put to the Federal Office at the end of the conference.