Alternative Dispute Resolution(Adr)Mechanism In International Cultural Property Disputes

Countries as represented by China,which have a large number of cultural relics lost in oversea marketing countries all have the imperative mission to retrieve their lost treasures.However,due to the long history of the loss and the differences in laws and regulations enacted by different countries,the road to the return of cultural relics is hampered.The process of retrieving cultural relics often takes many years,sometimes a desired result cannot even be guaranteed.Promising declarations on cultural property restitution have been made by governments and stakeholders in recent decades,and alternative dispute resolution(hereinafter referred as"ADR")mechanism has gradually been the center of much attention ever since.In practice,the number of cultural relics returned through ADR channels has gradually increased.This mechanism is taking its unique advantages to bring new life to the restitution predicament.Therefore,it is necessary to discuss the ADR mechanism in the field of international cultural property disputes,to analyze its system advantages and its way of perfection,providing new guidance for international cultural property ADR and experience that can be learned from for China’s pursuit of overseas loss.Based on the latest developments in the field of international cultural property disputes,this article analyzes the cases in which the lost relics were successfully returned by alternative methods,summarizing the experience in these cases.The ADR mechanism is inspected and evaluated,and based on this,the improvement suggestions for the corresponding system are proposed.Specifically,this article is divided into five chapters:Chapter 1 outlines the general concepts and institutional characteristics of the ADR mechanism.Point out that the ADR system is standardly classified as negotiation and consultation,mediation and conciliation,good office,inquiry or fact finding,and arbitration.Then indicate that cost-efficient,autonomy,confidentially,and multiple-possibility mechanism are the key features of such ADR approaches.Based on Chapter 1,Chapter 2 elaborates the current situation of the ADR mechanism in cultural property disputes.At present,there are corresponding mechanism of negotiation and consultation,mediation and conciliation,good office,inquiry or fact finding,and arbitration in cultural property disputes.In particular,there are mechanisms specifically tailored for cultural property disputes,i.e.the good office mechanism offered by Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property("ICPRCP"),the mediation program jointly provided by International Council of Museums("ICOM")and World Intellectual Property Organization("WIPO"),and other cultural property dispute resolution panels in European countries.Chapter 3 starts the empirical research of relevant cases based on the previous two chapters.This article conducted a classification analysis and research on cases successfully solved by ADR means,and summarizes the merits of ADR manner,including flexible evidence standards,power of media,politics and diplomacy,comprehensive utilization of the foregoing methods.Chapter 4 re-evaluates the case analysis in Chapter 3,discovers the defections of the existing ADR mechanism in international cultural property disputes,and proposes that two parallel international cultural property disputes ADR platforms should be established for the state orientated and non-state orientated cultural property disputes.On top of this,supplementary working groups should be organized to conduct researches concerning issues in the field of cultural property disputes,as well as setting up databases to improve the looted-art information.Then the article puts forward the enlightenment of the development of the ADR mechanism in international cultural property disputes to China’s cultural property recourse work.It is suggested that an ADR platform for international cultural property disputes should also be set up within the territory of China,and in parallel China should perfect its strategies of oversea cultural property recourse with the aim of resolving the unique problems China has encountered.In turn this will stimulate the progress of lost cultural properties’ repatriation eventually in the long term.