Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, 1954
In 1954, New Zealand signed the Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. The New Zealand Government is considering the case for New Zealand to ratify the Convention and accede to its two Protocols.
As part of this project, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage sought public input. A public consultation paper and questionnaire were prepared and sent to all libraries, museums, archives, iwi, and owners of Category 1 historic places, among others.
The paper and questionnaire set out seven key questions on which the Ministry sought input. The most important of these are:
- What New Zealand cultural property of great importance to New Zealanders should be protected by the Convention? This is a high threshold, and not all New Zealand cultural property will qualify.
- What New Zealand cultural property of the greatest importance for humanity as a whole should be protected by the enhanced protections offered under the Second Protocol? This is a highly restrictive test, and we anticipate that very few items of cultural property will be included in this category.
- Should the protections offered under the Convention be mandatory for all qualifying cultural property, or can owners elect not to be protected?
The consultation period has now ended on this issue.
Parliament recently considered National Interest Analyses for the Hague Convention and its two Protocols. These were reported back on 21 May 2008. These National Interest Analyses can be viewed here:
- National Interest Analysis: Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (140k, pdf)*
- National Interest Analysis: First and Second Protocols to the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (160k, pdf)*
*Please email webmaster@mch.govt.nz if you have any problems opening these pdf documents.