Cultural Heritage and Emerging Crime

A UNESCO Chair Researching the Heritage Crimes of the Present and Future
  • Blue and white logo that said UNESCO Chair and has the UNESCO primary logo on it

    New and emerging heritage crimes occur beyond the boundaries of detection, deterrence, and imagination. 

    We ask: what comes next? 
     


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  • News and Events

    Conference speaking microphone in front of a label that says DONNA YATES SPEAKER

    Keynote at Informal meeting of Culture Ministers in Lefkosia, Cyprus

    Yates was a guest of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU

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    Group of attendees in from of a sign that says Cultural property protection for all. A mix of men and women.

    Core Group Meeting, CPP4ALL Cost Network held in Warsaw Poland

    Yates attended this meeting as Vice Chair of the COST action.

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    Screenshot of a news article showing a fossil that says Irritator geht nach Hause

    Stewens interviewed for Kontext: Wochenzeitung

    The German magazine Kontext: Wochenzeitung interviewed affiliated research Paul Stewens about the repatriation of a rare dinosaur fossil from Germany to Brazil. 

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    wall that says nationale bibliotheek and a screen that says Naitonal Action Day Resiliant Heritage in Dutch

    Kick Off: National Action Day Resilient Heritage, Den Haag

    Held on 11 May 2026 at the Dutch Royal Library, The Hague.

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  • Publications and Outputs

    Book cover for book Variably Legal Markets

    Variably Legal and Irregularly Regulated: Global Markets in Collectable Antiquities, Wildlife, and Fossils

    Book Chapter In: Variably Legal Markets: Rethinking Markets and Crime. 

     

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    Cover of an academic book called Research Handbook on Art, Culture and Heritage Law that shows some ancient looking pottery

    Exploring Aspects of the Online Trade in Antiquities Through Snapshot Analysis

    Book Chapter In: Research Handbook on Art, Culture and Heritage. 

     

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    Cover of the journal Harvard Art Law Review Volume II Winter 2026. There are no images on it.

    Seizure without Restitution: Antiquities Dealer Leonardo Patterson’s Collection before the Munich Administrative Court

    Article in Harvard Law Review

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    Cover of a journal with a large CP on it

    A Tale of Two Museums: Restitution and the Genealogy of the False Dichotomy between Natural History Museums and Cultural Museums

    Journal paper in International Journal of Cultural Policy

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  • The UNESCO Chair in Cultural Heritage and Emerging Crime is held by Prof. Donna Yates and hosted by Maastricht University