CGHD associated researcher Amy Strecker was recently elected to the newly established ILA Committee on Participation in Global Cultural Heritage Governance, which held its first meeting at the ILA Conference in Sydney from 19th-24th August. The theme of this year’s conference was Developing International Law in Challenging Times.
The ILA is a long-standing international organisation aimed at studying, clarifying and developing international law, and its membership includes academic scholars, practicing lawyers and members of the judiciary worldwide.
A central component of the ILA is the work of its committees, which are focused on specific issues or gaps in international law, and are usually composed of experts in the field elected by the their national branches. The Committee on Global Cultural Heritage Governance takes over from the previous Committee on Cultural Heritage Law, whose work included a book, two international treaties (one of which served as the basis for a UNESCO Convention now in force), a law review symposium, three sets of guidelines and declarations, and numerous scholarly studies.
The mandate of the new Committee aims to continue this influential work but with a focus on the importance of communities in cultural heritage. Given the indispensability of participation by individuals and communities with their vital links to cultural heritage and global governance, the aim of the Committee is to provide a better understanding of participatory rights in global cultural governance, to analyse the practical realisation of participatory rights in implementing international cultural heritage instruments within selected national legal systems, focusing on the issues of access, standing and equality, and lastly, to develop policy-oriented recommendations for improving efficient involvement and participation in global cultural heritage governance.
Amy is delighted to part of this exciting new Committee and looks forward to working on these issues in the years ahead.
