FIGHTING AGAINST THE ILLICIT TRAFFICKING OF CULTURAL PROPERTY Cross-border training workshop for relevant authorities of Montenegro and Serbia Rome (Italy), 20-24 November 2017

1. Republic of Serbia
Мinistry of Culture and Media
The state of the art in fighting the illicit
trafficking of cultural property

2. Legal framework
 Cultural Property Law ("Official Gazette of RS", nos.
71/94, 52/11 - other law, 99/11 - other law)
 Law on Old and Rare Library Material ("Official Gazette
of RS", No. 52/11)
 Customs Law ("Official Gazette of RS", Nos. 18/10, 111/12)
 Foreign Trade Law ("Official Gazette of RS", Nos.
36/09,36/11 - other law, 88/11)
 Criminal Code ("Official Gazette of RS", Nos. 85/05, 88/05 -
Corrigendum, 107/05 - Corrigendum, 72/09, 111/09)

3. International Legal Framework
- Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer
of Ownership of Cultural Property, Paris, 1970 (Official Gazette of the SFRY –
International Treaties , No. 50/73);
- Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Paris, 1972
(Official Gazette of the SFRY, - International Treaties, No. 56/74);
- Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe, Granada, 1985
(Official Gazette of the SFRY – International Treaties, No. 4/91)
- European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage (Revised), Valletta,
1992 (Official Gazette of the RS, No. 42/09);
- Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society, Faro,
2005 (Official Gazette of the RS – International Treaties , No. 1/10);
Serbia has not ratified:
- UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects (Rome, 1995)
European Union
- Council Regulation (EC) No 116/2009 of 18 December 2008 on the export of cultural goods
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1081/2012 of 9 November 2012 for the purposes of Council
Regulation (EC) No 116/2009 on the export of cultural goods

4. Institutions for protection
of cultural heritage
 Institute for protection of Cultural Monuments - 14 – protection of
cultural monuments, spatial cultural-historical units, archeological sites and
important places.
 Museum – 144 – protection and preservation works of art and history
Archive – 34 – protection and preservation of archive and registry
materials.
 Film Archive – 1 - protection and preservation of audiovisual materials.
 Libraries – 148 - Protection and preservation of old and rare books
 Central Conservation Institute – 1 - established in 2009 as cultural
institution, with support of Italian Government, and it represents inter-
disciplinary basis for protection of cultural heritage.

5. Export of cultural property
- Permits for permanent export or temporary export of cultural property for
cultural goods are issued by the Ministry of Culture - according to Article 118 of
the Cultural Property Law Cultural property may be permanently exported or taken
out of the country only exceptionally, under justified reasons
- Export permits for artefacts enjoying preliminary protection, according to Article
80, paragraph 2, of this law, are issued by the Institute for Protection of Monuments
of Culture (except for publications) and the National Library of Serbia (for
publications) on the basis of Article 83, paragraph 3. Export permits for artefacts
enjoying preliminary protection for the region of the Autonomous Province of
Vojvodina are issued by the Provincial Secretariat for Culture according to Article
42, paragraph 1, item 15) of the Law Defining the Competences of the Autonomous
Province of Vojvodina.

6. Registries of cultural property
Cultural goods are entered in the Registry of cultural goods
according to the type.
Central registries are kept by following institutions:
1. Republic Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments for
immovable cultural goods
2. National museum, Belgrade for movable cultural goods
3. Archive of Serbia for archive materials
4. National library of Serbia for old and rare library materials
5. Yugoslav Film Archive for audiovisual materials

7. AP Kosovo and Metohija
• In Kosovo and Metohija there are about 1.300 churches, monasteries and
other objects, localities and areas that form cultural heritage of Serbian
nation. Through history this Christian heritage was endangered, destroyed
and renovated, but ...
• Only in last ten years (Resolution SB 1244), there were destroyed,
damaged and desecrated app. 150 churches, monasteries and other object,
out of which as many as 61 have status of cultural monuments, wheras 18
of them are exceptionally significant for Serbia.
Apart from that, more than 10,000.00 icons, religious artifacts, that are
being sold at large on world illegal market of antiques.

8. Monastery Visoki Dečani

9. Frescos in the dome of monastery Visoki Dečani

10. State analysis
An analysis of the state of the cultural heritage protection institution has
shown:
• that the security conditions for keeping and exhibiting objects are
inadequate (a small number of cases, it is completely satisfactory),
• A large number of institutions do not have or do not implement security
measures to protect theft from.
Identified particular problem:
• archaeological sites (of exceptional significance Viminacium, Kostolac,
Justiniana Prima, antique site Lederata near Rama, late antique
fortifications of Zlata near Prokuplje, etc.) are exposed to illegal
excavations whose ultimate goal is the illicit trade.
OBJECTIVE: illegal trade
.

11. Тraces of illegal excavations

12. Тraces of illegal excavations

13. Undertaken measures
The Ministry of Culture takes measures within its jurisdiction
for the protection of cultural heritage, such as:
 ranking of cultural heritage by recording the collections or
individual items into the Register of Cultural Goods or goods
under prior protection;
• monitoring the storage conditions and support for improving
the storage conditions as well as physical and technical
protection of cultural heritage;
• support to the installation of modern alarm systems in the
facilities for the purpose of protecting the most valuable
collections from burglary, theft and fire.
• support to public awarness raising of the importance of
cultural heritage.

14. Threats
• Thefts of art and historical objects, devastation and looting of
archaeological sites, illegal trafficking, illegal export of cultural goods
represents an increasingly common form of impoverishment of the cultural
heritage, thus depriving us of a part of the historical identity. This is a well
organized, highly lucrative international crime that due to its intensity and
volume ranks immediately behind the crimes related to trafficking in arms
and drugs, and therefore requires constant coordination of activities and
maximum possible organized resistance at both national and international
level.
• Thefts affect both museum and gallery collections, as well as religious
buildings and archaeological sites. The most common objects being
alienated are paintings and sculptures, religious objects, old weapons,
numismatics, manuscripts, fragments of architectural sculpture, while the
ethnographic objects are more and more often exposed to uncontrolled
export from countries.

15. Measures to be taken
Legislation:
- the implementation of relevant international conventions and regulations;
- reform of the national normative framework.
In the field of competence Ministry:
Established inspection services in field of cultural protection
Establishing an electronic database:
- cultural goods,
- on stolen objects (a precondition for preventing the illegal traffic of stolen
goods, identification and returning to the owner),
- temporarily exported and returned cultural goods.
forming:
- Register of goods claimed illegally exported from the territory of Serbia.

16. Measures to be taken
Intersectoral cooperation:
• new forms /institutionalization of cooperation with customs authorities, with
Ministry of Interior Affairs and INTERPOL and Ministry of Justice and
Prosecution Office
• improvement of the system and conditions for the return of illegally presented
cultural goods from other countries,
• adopting new / more efficient models of cooperation with national representatives
of INTERPOL, ICCOOM and ICROM, as well as UNESCO.
Education:
• participation in the training of customs and police workers, as well as local
communities on the importance of protecting cultural heritage.
Supervision:
• introduction of new technologies and improvement of control at archaeological
sites. Initiation of surveillance of numerous archaeological sites together with
Ministry of Interior Affairs members

17. Return of Cultural Objects –good practice
Republic of Turkey - During the official visit of the Minister of Culture and
Tourism of the Republic of Turkey , serbian Minister handed over to his
collegue archeological-numismatic material (1,864 cases) of Turkish origin
seized during the attempt to illegally enter Serbia in 2004 at the border
crossing Batrovci, in accordance with the 1970 Convention
Switzerland – In 2014, the Federal Office of Culture, as a competent Swiss
authority, arranged the return of 150 bronze Roman coins (II-IV s. ) found
in Switzerland, for which it was established through police investigation
that they originate from the territory of the Republic of Serbia.
Austria - Initiative for the return of 19 bronze Roman coins and 11
archeological objects illegally excavated near town Petrovac na Mlavi

18. Serbian-Croatian Committee for the return of
cultural property
Mixed Serbian-Croatian Committee for the return of cultural
property was established in 2002 and it is still operational with
the task to return evacuated cultural property from the territory
of today's Croatia during the armed operations in the 1990’s to
the original place from which it was evacuated from when the
international standards for safeguarding are met.
Up to now 18.726 movable cultural goods from Republic of
Serbia have been returned to the teritory which was affected
by civil war. According to final list, there less then 1.000
movable cultural goods left to be returned.

19. Ongoing
Ongoing Public debate on the adoption of the Strategy for
Cultural Development in the Republic of Serbia for period
2017- 2027, in which the Protection of Cultural Heritage
takes significant place.
• New Law on Cultural Heritage should be enacted, which,
among else, will more properly regulate archeological
excavations and researches.
• Harmonized with international conventions on force
Ongoing coordination with relevant departments at international
level - INTERPOL, UNESCO, ICCOM and ICROM

20. Gamzigrad – Royal Palace

21. Gamzigrad

22. Lepenski vir – archeological site

23. Stećci - Medieval Tombstone Graveyards

24. Republic of Serbia
Ministry of Culture and Media
Ms. Olivera Markovic , Senior Officer for Integral Protection of Cultural Heritage,
Ms. Ivana Zečević Head of Division for Cooperation with International Organizations
and European Integration in The Field of Culture,
THANK YOU