Glossary beginning with I

The Glossary provides basic legal and technical definitions for the most common terms related to the fight against illicit traffic in cultural goods.

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I

Illegal / Illicit

Refers to an action which is against or not authorized by the national or international law in a given context. Not permitted or allowed; prohibited; unlawful; as an illicit trade.

Source: West's Law & Commercial Dictionary / International Observatory on Illicit Traffic in Cultural Goods

Illegal acquisition

The act of becoming the owner of certain property against the law.

Source: West's Law & Commercial Dictionary

Illegal trade

See "Illicit traffic".

Illicit excavation

The extraction of objects from a clandestine or an official archaeological site in contravention of the laws of the State of location.

Source: Arthemis, Art-Law Centre, University of Geneva

Illicit export

The export or transfer of ownership of cultural property effected contrary to the provisions adopted by the States.

Source: Arthemis, Art-Law Centre, University of Geneva

Illicit import

Transfer of cultural property into the territory of a State on violation of the rules of the State.

Source: Arthemis, Art-Law Centre, University of Geneva

Illicit market

Place or a medium where the ownership of cultural property is illegally transferred between two entities.

Source: International Observatory on Illicit Traffic in Cultural Goods

Illicit trade

Voir "trafic illicite"

Illicit traffic

The import, export or transfer of ownership of property contrary to the provisions of the domestic legal norms of the jurisdiction in which the import, export, or transfer occurred and/or any applicable international legal norms.

Source: Glossary, UNESCO Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws

Immovable cultural heritage

Monuments, such as architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave dwellings and combinations of features, which are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science; groups of buildings, such as groups of separate or connected buildings which, because of their architecture, their homogeneity or their place in the landscape, are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science; and sites, such as works of man or the combined works of nature and man, and areas including archaeological sites which are of outstanding universal value from the historical, aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological point of view.

Source: Glossary, UNESCO Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws

Immunity of seizure / Anti-seizure legislation

National legal provisions granting immunity from enforcement proceedings (i.e. seizure) to objects temporarily loaned for exhibition purposes by foreign institutions.

Source: Arthemis, Art-Law Centre, University of Geneva

Implementation

Implementation cannot be caught in one single act such as the deposit of a ratification. The implementation of a convention means that based on an analysis of the provisions of the convention and the national legislation, regulations and practices have to be changed and adhered to.

Self-Executing conventions (UNIDROIT 1995) do not require an implementation process technically, whereas non-self-executing conventions (UNESCO 1970) require national laws to be revised in line with the provisions of the convention.

Practically, all conventions, biletaral agreements, memorandum of understandings, etc. need to be implemented with actions taken by its parties in order to put their provisions into practice and make the instruments effective.

Source: International Observatory on Illicit Traffic in Cultural Goods

Import (of cultural object)

Act of bringing or carrying in from an outside source, especially goods or materials from a foreign country for trade or sale.

Source: Encyclopedia

Inalienability

The legal status of certain cultural asses that cannot be removed from a State’s patrimony.

Source: Arthemis, Art-Law Centre, University of Geneva

Intellectual property

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.

Source: Arthemis, Art-Law Centre, University of Geneva

Internet sales & auctions

Action of offering goods or services through a companies’ websites or any other internet platforms. Online sales might be distinguished from online auctions.

Online sale means that an interested person can buy a product directly from his computer, while online auction reference to an auction accessible through the internet but with the particular rules of an auction.

A really reduced number of countries has its own e-commerce regulation, more often in case of litigation, it refers to the consumer laws.

Source: International Council of Museums

Inventory / Registry

Inventories are detailed, itemized lists, reports or records of objects, monuments, buildings and cultural sites and landscapes. Registries are the books for official record-keeping.

Inventories serve to identify, protect, interpret and physically preserve the registered items. As such, they are an important tool to fight the illicit trafficking in cultural goods. Inventories are specifically mentioned in several international conventions related to the protection of heritage:
- The 1972 UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage provides for a World Heritage Committee to which each State Party would submit an inventory of its national heritage
- The Council of Europe’s 1992 Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage requires each Party to provide for "the maintenance of an inventory of its archaeological heritage and the designation of protected monuments and areas."
- The 1964 UNESCO Recommendation on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Export, Import and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property recommended that each member state draw up a national inventory of cultural property.
- The 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property called for the establishment and maintenance of national inventories of cultural property.

Source: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language / International Council of Museums