Theft of Cultural Property in the Context of the Polish Criminal Law

Katarzyna Banasik

In: Societas et iurisprudentia • 2019 • Volume 7 • Issue 3 • Pages 35-48 • ISSN 1339-5467

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to examine whether the Republic of Poland guarantees cultural property appropriate protection against theft under the criminal law. The author begins by analysing the 1972 Paris Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage and presenting the relevant regulations. In the next part of the paper, she analyses the legal grounds for classifying cultural property theft as a felony or a misdemeanour. Moreover, the author explains the term “cultural property” and its relationship with the term “cultural relic”. She also provides an exhaustive analysis of two particular elements of this category of theft: “property of considerable value” and “property of significant cultural value”. She concludes by assessing the current state of the Polish criminal law from the perspective of the protection of cultural property against theft.

Key Words: Criminal Law; Cultural Property; Property of Significant Cultural Value; Cultural Relics; Theft as a Felony; Theft as a Misdemeanour; the 1972 Paris Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage; Poland.

URL: https://sei.iuridica.truni.sk/archive/2019/03/SEI-2019-03-Studies-Banasik-Katarzyna.pdf

Bibliographic Citation

BANASIK, K. Theft of Cultural Property in the Context of the Polish Criminal Law. Societas et iurisprudentia [online]. 2019, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 35-48 [cit. 2020-01-01]. ISSN 1339-5467. Available at: https://sei.iuridica.truni.sk/international-scientific-journal/archive/issue-2019-03/theft-of-cultural-property-in-the-context-of-the-polish-criminal-law/.