The 1972 World Heritage Convention A Commentary

Almost fifty years have passed since the adoption of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the UNESCO World Heritage Convention). With its 194 States Parties, it is the most widely ratified convention within the family of UNESCO treaties on the protection of cultural heritage. The success of this Convention and its almost universal acceptance by the international community of states is due to the great appeal that recognising certain properties as “world heritage” has for national governments.

Since the publication of the first Commentary, new problems have arisen in the management of world heritage sites. It has become increasingly difficult to properly monitor the conservation of the ever-growing mass of sites inscribed in the World Heritage List, and to resolve disputes over the formal designation of contested world heritage properties - a problem that has led to the withdrawal of the United States and Israel from UNESCO. New frontiers are now being explored for the expansion of the world heritage idea over marine areas beyond national jurisdiction, and the monopoly of the State in the identification, delineation, and presentation of world heritage properties is being increasingly challenged in the name of indigenous peoples' rights and by local communities claiming ownership over contested cultural sites. At the same time, the regime of world heritage protection has infiltrated other areas of international law, especially international economic law, investment arbitration, and the area of international criminal law. This second edition critically examines the World Heritage Convention against this dynamic evolution of international heritage law to help academics, lawyers, diplomats, and officials interpret and apply the norms of the Convention after half a century of uninterrupted implementing practice by State Parties and Treaty Bodies.

Francesco Francioni, Professor Emeritus of International Law, European University Institute, Florence,Federico Lenzerini, Professor of International Law and Human Rights Law, Department of Political and International Sciences, University of Siena,

Francesco Francioni is Professor Emeritus of International Law at the European University Institute. He has published extensively in the field of international law and held the Chair of International Law at the University of Siena from 1980 to 2003. He was a visiting professor at the University of Texas, Austin, from 1987 to 2008 and has taught as a visiting professor at the Universities of Cornell, Oxford , Munich, and Columbia, NY. He is a legal consultant for UNESCO and has participated in the negotiation of the main treaties and protocols concerning the protection of cultural heritage of the past 25 years. In 1987 and 1988 he was President of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

Federico Lenzerini is Professor of international law and European Union law for the Faculty of Law of the University of Siena. He is a consultant of UNESCO for the Department for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and the Legal Counsel of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for international negotiations relative to the protection of cultural property. He is a member of the "Italian International Law Society " and the "Biotechnology Committee" of the International Law Association. His relevant areas of research are human rights protection, the right to asylum (under the double profile of general international law and of community law), rights of indigenous populations (according to comparative and international law), International Business and Trade Law, the international protection of cultural heritage, and cultural diversity.

PART I. INTRODUCTION
The 1972 World Heritage Convention: An Introduction, Francesco Francioni
Conceptual Developments of the World Heritage Convention, Christina Cameron
PART II. COMMENTARY
The Preamble, Francesco Francioni
Article 1 Definition of Cultural Heritage, Abdulqawi A. Yusuf
Article 1 Cultural Landscapes, Amy Strecker
Article 2 Definition of Natural Heritage, Catherine Redgwell
Article 3 Identification and Delineation of World Heritage Properties, Ben Boer
Articles 4-7 National and International Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage, Guido Carducci
Articles 8-11 World Heritage Committee and World Heritage List, Tullio Scovazzi
Article 11 List of World Heritage in Danger and Deletion of a Property from the World Heritage List, Gionata P. Buzzini and Luigi Condorelli
Article 12 Protection of Properties Not Inscribed on the World Heritage List, Federico Lenzerini
Article 13 World Heritage Committee and International Assistance, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak
Article 14 The Secretariat and Support of the World Heritage Committee, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak
Articles 15-18 World Heritage Fund, Federico Lenzerini
Articles 19-26 International Assistance, Federico Lenzerini
Articles 27-28 Educational Programmes, Federico Lenzerini
Article 29 Reports, Ben Boer
Article 34 Federal or Non-Unitary Constitutional Systems, Ben Boer
Articles 30-33 and 35-38 Final Clauses, Federico Lenzerini
PART III. RELATION OF THE WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION WITH OTHER RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL REGIMES
The 1972 World Heritage Convention in the Framework of Other UNESCO Conventions and Other Instruments on Cultural Heritage, Guido Carducci
The World Heritage Convention and Other Conventions Relating to the Protection of the Natural Heritage, Catherine Redgwell
World Heritage and Human Rights, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak
The World Heritage Convention and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Federico Lenzerini and Dalee Sambo Dorough
The World Heritage Convention and the Law of the Sea, Patrizia Vigni
The World Heritage Convention and International Investment Law, Valentina Vadi
PART IV. CONCLUSIONS
The Future of the World Heritage Convention: Problems and Prospects, Francesco Francioni and Federico Lenzerini