Alberta Fabbricotti – författare

The world has been shocked by the destruction of world cultural heritage sites over the past two decades, as seen in widely disseminated videos depicting events such as the demolition of the Buddhas of Bamiyan and the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. These acts are perhaps the clearest and most glaring examples of what is meant by the ‘Intentional Destruction of the Cultural Heritage of Humankind’ (IDCHH).The book explores in detail the remedies against IDCHH available under international law. These remedies are defined as all the lawful responses provided for both by customary law and by the special responsibility regimes created under the many substantive areas of international law. The examination includes UNESCO instruments and UN measures for the maintenance of international peace, mechanisms for the protection of human rights and those for the protection of investments, and international criminal justice outcomes through the decisions of the Permanent Criminal Court. Thus, the book explores avenues for response such as appeals to international courts, peacekeeping operations and referrals to the criminal legislation of States, in addition to reparations. The concept of the Cultural Heritage of Humankind implies that IDCHH harms all States and all peoples and human groupings in the world, not only the State or people on whose territory the cultural property is located. The book identifies the international law avenues for subjects not directly injured by IDCHH to obtain its cessation and reparation. This book is essential reading for students, academics and practitioners exploring international law and the destruction of cultural heritage.

The world has been shocked by the destruction of world cultural heritage sites over the past two decades, as seen in widely disseminated videos depicting events such as the demolition of the Buddhas of Bamiyan and the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. These acts are perhaps the clearest and most glaring examples of what is meant by the ‘Intentional Destruction of the Cultural Heritage of Humankind’ (IDCHH).The book explores in detail the remedies against IDCHH available under international law. These remedies are defined as all the lawful responses provided for both by customary law and by the special responsibility regimes created under the many substantive areas of international law. The examination includes UNESCO instruments and UN measures for the maintenance of international peace, mechanisms for the protection of human rights and those for the protection of investments, and international criminal justice outcomes through the decisions of the Permanent Criminal Court. Thus, the book explores avenues for response such as appeals to international courts, peacekeeping operations and referrals to the criminal legislation of States, in addition to reparations. The concept of the Cultural Heritage of Humankind implies that IDCHH harms all States and all peoples and human groupings in the world, not only the State or people on whose territory the cultural property is located. The book identifies the international law avenues for subjects not directly injured by IDCHH to obtain its cessation and reparation. This book is essential reading for students, academics and practitioners exploring international law and the destruction of cultural heritage.

The concept of the “common concern of humankind” (CCH) has gradually been incorporated into international law. Following the 2025 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on climate change, its international legal status is beyond doubt. International law attributes significant consequences to the CCH qualification, which essentially fall within the sphere of State responsibility. Ulti-mately, States have taken on board the responsibility of fulfilling the obligations they have undertaken for the benefit of humanity and the international community as a whole, and not merely to pursue their own individual and collective inter-ests. Today, the concept of CCH is associated with two global challenges: climate change and biodiversity loss.This book explores the possibility of extending the CCH designation to include the “intentional destruction of the cultural heritage of humankind” (IDCHH). A comprehensive definition of IDCHH is provided. The arguments in favour of such inclusion are based on a systematic comparison of the qualifying features of the two legal concepts: CCH and IDCHH. These arguments also consider a modern, integrated approach to solving major global problems internationally, which recog-nises the destruction of cultural heritage, climate change and the loss of biodiver-sity as interconnected phenomena requiring consistent and uniform political and legal responses.