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OSSERVATORIO INTERNAZIONALE

The International Humanitarian Law (IHL) highlights with great emphasis the necessity to pro-
tect the cultural heritage both from a legislative and a criminal law point of view. The concept of “protec-
tion” is then to be considered from a dual perspective: on the one hand, the tutelage from damages and
destructions; on the other, the prevention from embezzlement.
The IHL legal framework comprehends “general” conventions, customary law, treaties regarding cultural
heritage, human rights - both customary and conventional - and, last but not least, international criminal law. In
this wide-ranging complex, moreover, the protection of such goods appears to be embedded in the broader body of
rules regarding the protection of enemy’s goods and the “civilian-like” ones. The cultural heritage, indeed, is itself
mostly “civilian”. Particular attention is also reserved to the protection enforcement during armed occupations.
Aside of the previously exposed tenets of in-war protection, it may be useful to cover also the legal framework
which regulates the so called “world heritage”. Such norms, indeed, are still applicable during conflicts and, in addi-
tion, are fully effective in a wide range of “crisis” situations as earthquakes, floods, and alike natural catastrophes.
Thus, the present study aims to briefly analyse international humanitarian law, human rights, cul-
tural heritage protection rules and international criminal law. Such an overview, then, permits to point out
the relevance of this articulated and complex system for professional education. Training, as a matter of
fact, represents an unavoidable challenge and a major need to prepare operators - both civilian and military
- truly able to cope with the unpredictable risks which may threaten the cultural heritage.

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SOMMARIO: 1. Le norme del diritto internazionale umanitario. La Convenzione dell’Aja del
1954. - 2. Il Secondo Protocollo del 1999. - 3. I beni culturali nel diritto inter-
nazionale penale. - 4. Salvaguardia e formazione.

1. Le norme del diritto internazionale umanitario. La Convenzione
dell’Aja del 1954
Nell’ultimo secolo, a partire dal primo dopoguerra, gli Stati hanno adotta-
to alcune convenzioni (trattati multilaterali) specificamente dedicate alla tutela
dei beni culturali nei conflitti armati .
(1)
(1) In argomento, cfr. l’opera generale M. FRIGO, La protezione dei beni culturali nel diritto interna-
zionale, Milano, 1986; Il testo fondamentale, nel diritto dei conflitti armati, è R. O’KEEFE,
The Protection of Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflicts, Cambridge, 2006. Cfr., inoltre, Istituto
Internazionale di Diritto Umanitario, La protezione internazionale dei beni culturali,
Firenze, 1986; NAHLIK, La protection internationale des biens culturels en cas de conflit armé, in
RECUEIL DES COURS DE L’ACADÉMIE DE DROIT INTERNATIONAL DE LA HAYE, 1967, I; J.
TOMAN, La protection des biens culturels dans les conflits armés internationaux: cadre juridique et insti-
tutionnel, in ETUDES ET ESSAIS SUR LES DROIT INTERNATIONAL HUMANITAIRE ET SUR LES
PRINCIPES DE LA CROIX-ROUGE EN L’HONNEUR DE JEAN PICTET, Genève-La Haye, 1984, pag. 559;
ID, The Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, Paris, 1996; A. F. PANZERA,
La tutela internazionale dei beni culturali in tempo di guerra, Torino, 1993; A. GIOIA, La protezione
dei beni culturali nei conflitti armati, in F. FRANCIONI, A. DEL VECCHIO, P. DE CATERINI (Eds.),

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