Page 13 - Abstracts of the 2nd Slovenia–Turkey Bilateral Colloquium

Slovenia–Turkey Bilateral Colloquium · Portorož, 19 May 2023

Cultural Property in Private
International Law

Nuray Ekşi
Marmara University, Turkey
nurayeksi@gmail.com

Public or private cultural property owners face difficulty retrieving cul-
tural properties illegally removed from their countries. Different legal cli-
mates, cultures and traditions make this challenge even more difficult.
Private international law exists to eliminate difficulties and aims to facil-
itate a smooth process for the parties in cross-border disputes. However,
the difference is not only in the different countries’ internal laws but also
in the private international laws. This paper analyses the main issues of
private international law that the courts in various countries interpret dif-
ferently in cross-border cultural property disputes. The first issue is State
immunity in lawsuits for the return of cultural property. In the light of
jurisprudence, the paper will discuss other main issues: the controversial
issue of the classification due to lacking a universally agreed definition of
cultural property, which country’s court has jurisdiction, which country’s
law will apply, whether foreign public law establishing umbrella owner-
ship on cultural properties or protects the bona fide acquisition or sets
statute of limitation for restitution is inconsistent with public policy, and
how to determine the country of origin of cultural objects found during
illegal excavations.
Keywords: illicit trade in cultural property, cross-border transfer of cul-
tural property, umbrella statute, export of cultural objects, return of the
cultural property, public policy exception

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