The Importance of National Laws in Antiquities Law

In 1970, UNESCO created the Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. The convention has been ratified by 143 countries, the U.S. signed in 1983. Matthew Bogdanos: If it is stolen, it is always stolen. He says if you have an antiquity that has passed through the hands of one of about a dozen well-known traffickers, half of whom we have a restaurant out for around the world, chances are pretty good It's stolen.