UK ratifies 1954 Hague Convention

On 12 September 2017, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland deposited with the Director-General of UNESCO its instruments of ratification of the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and of accession to its First and Second Protocols (accompanied by a Declaration on the UNESCO website). In December 2017, the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Act entered into force in the UK, and both are now part of the domestic legislation of the United Kingdom.

Professor Peter Stone, Chair of UK Blue Shield said:

This is absolutely wonderful news and to be honest it hasn’t completely sunk in yet,” said Professor Stone. “We’ve been working towards this since 2003 and for the UK to have finally ratified the Convention and both its Protocols is long overdue. I thank the UK National Commission for UNESCO for its early support for this to happen and all of those in both Houses of Parliament who have pushed for this over the last few years and who have guided the necessary internal legislation through so efficiently.

Ratification is accompanied by Implementation measures, which were released in a statement by John Glen, The Minister for the Arts, Heritage and Tourism.