On International Legal Protection Of The Underwater Cultural Heritage

Underwater cultural heritage is the crystallization of wisdom of ancient human, the gift to the modern times from the past. It is useful for the historical and archaeological perspectives. In recent years, with the development of science and technology, people use ocean resources more and more widely. Underwater cultural heritage at the same time, also suffers various threats and destructions. Commercial development and all kinds of activities which unconsciously influence underwater cultural heritage and other factors have drawn international society’s attention. In order to protect the world cultural heritage more effectively, certain countries and international organizations actively promote for making a new convention based on international law. Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Culture Heritage appears in this background. On November2,2001, the United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organization (UNESCO) in the31st congress passed the first international convention, Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Culture Heritage, which specially protects the underwater cultural heritage. Convention provides legal basis for the international society’s protecting underwater cultural heritage, which helps contain the growing smuggling business of underwater cultural heritage. As the major country having underwater cultural heritage in the world, China has always been concerned with its protection. China, on October20,1989, formally promulgated Regulation of the People’s Republic of China Concerning the Work for the Protection of Underwater Cultural Relics. The regulation has not been revised for a long time, so it can not adapt to the needs of the development of practice. It needs to be perfected with reference to the relevant international conventions. When citing standard laws, the paper adopts exemplification analytic ways to demonstrate the idea been spoken, it also adopts the analytical and comprehensive research methods to explain the existing problems and suggestions of solution to the underwater cultural heritage protection. This paper is divided into three parts:preface, text and conclusion. The text is concluded of five chapters. The first chapter is the general analysis of the underwater cultural heritage, which mainly reveals the concept, general features and the necessity of protecting underwater cultural heritage; the second chapter from the international level expounds legislation practice of the underwater cultural heritage protection. It mainly analyzes1982UNCLOS,1989International Convention on Salvage and Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Culture Heritage. The third chapter presents the disputes focus of underwater cultural heritage protection, mainly from ownership dispute, jurisdiction dispute, analyzes its ownership and jurisdiction; The fourth chapter from the international society level, introduces how to perfect underwater cultural heritage protection, mainly from the angle of perfecting the settlement of the related disputes of underwater cultural heritage, and Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Culture Heritage. Chapter5according to our country’s present situation of cultural relics and related legislation discusses how to improve legislation, to strengthen international cooperation, and to protect underwater cultural heritage of China.