The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage: a Future for our Past?

Abstract

The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage was designed to come into force after the date of deposit of the 20th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval, or accession (Article 27). This occurred in January 2009 after the deposition of an instrument of acceptance by Barbados on 2 October 2008. Now that the convention is in force, it creates binding obligations under international law between the States Parties. But it will do more than this. In March 2009 the Director-General of UNESCO convened a meeting of States Parties in Paris to decide the functions, responsibilities, and rules of procedure in relation to the convention. This article discusses the implications of the convention at both the domestic and international levels, considers why some nations have not chosen to ratify, and contemplates how such objections might be overcome.