About ArThemis

ArThemis is a fully searchable database containing case notes about disputes over the return and restitution of cultural property. The case notes focus on the settlement of disputes through alternative dispute resolution methods (ADR) but also examine judicial decisions. The case notes are accompanied by pertinent documents, including judgments, published agreements, pictures, etc.

Background

ArThemis is one of the outcomes of the Research Study on “Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms and Cultural Property”. Started in June 2010, this Research Study has been carried out by the Art-Law Centre of the University of Geneva with the financial support of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) until 2013. ArThemis is now continuing under the UNESCO Chair in the International Law of the Protection of the Cultural Heritage at the University of Geneva.

Research Goals

ArThemis aims to demonstrate the potential of dispute resolution methods alternative to litigation for the settlement of art-related disputes. To this end, the case notes highlight the idiosyncratic legal, factual and ethical problems that characterize this branch of law and the practical advantages that litigants may gain by preferring non-confrontational processes. In this respect, the case notes emphasise the reasons that have led the parties to opt for non-judicial means.

Given that for many disputes there is no possible substitute for ordinary court proceedings, ArThemis also includes several case notes discussing the most relevant domestic court decisions. These case notes, on the one hand, aim to highlight the limits of litigation vis-à-vis ADR. On the other hand, they are drafted in order to provide an evaluation of the final settlement and of the manner in which domestic courts have dealt with legal and procedural hurdles. In this respect, ArThemis aims to emphasise that cultural heritage law is evolving also as a result of the sound and culture-sensitive settlements of restitution cases decided by domestic courts.

All in all, the goal of ArThemis is to provide the stakeholders of the art and cultural heritage milieu – including judges, mediators, arbitrators, practitioners, researchers and potential litigants – with telling examples that might be of guidance for the settlement of restitution cases. Hence, ArThemis ultimately endeavours to emphasize that restitution cases should be preferably settled through processes that allow involved stakeholders to take account of the uniqueness of cultural property and to reconcile the competing moral, historical, cultural, financial and legal issues involved.

Case Notes

ArThemis contains case notes written by specialists. These are structured in seven parts, which reflect the structure of ArThemis: I. Chronology; II. Dispute Resolution Process; III. Legal Issues; IV. Adopted Solution; V. Comment; VI. Sources. These headings bring to the fore in a clear and intelligible manner the most relevant issues of each case.

Research director

Marc-André Renold

Prof. University of Geneva, Dr. iur., LL.M., Director Art-Law Centre.

Marc-André Renold studied at the Universities of Geneva and Basel in Switzerland and at Yale University in the USA. He is Professor of art and cultural heritage law at the University of Geneva. He is also Attorney-at-law, Member of the Geneva Bar. He is the author or co-author of several publications in the field of international and comparative art and cultural heritage law and has been, since its inception, an editor of the “Studies in Art Law” series. He is also the holder of the UNESCO Chair in the International Law of the Protection of the Cultural Heritage at the University of Geneva.

Current research team

Morgane Desboeufs

Former researchers

Alessandro Chechi; Vanessa Vuille (assistant, 2018); Ece Velioglu Yildizci; Mathilde Heaton (assistant, 2017-2018); Meng Yu (visiting PhD, 2016-2017, from China University of Political Science and Law); Justine Ferland (2015-2016); Anne Laure Bandle; Raphael Contel.

Interns

Several interns and volunteers contributed to the ArThemis database, notably Andrea Wallace (United States), Shelly Janevicius (United States), Madeleine Frith (Australia), Lauren Bursey (Canada), Morgan Drake (United States), Nare G. Aleksanyan (United States), Marius Muller (Germany), Kartik Ashta (India), Elisabeth Fraccaro (United States), Elisabeth Sawyer (United States), Annabelle Spence (Australia), Hélène Rodriguez-Vigouroux (Switzerland), Margaux Sitavanc (Switzerland), Seth Médiateur Tuyisabe (Switzerland), Nikolas Hertel (Germany), Kathleen Tantuico (Philippines), Anais Bayrou (Switzerland), Tristan Weber (Switzerland), Bernadette Sayar (France), Juliette Hélène Merkt (Switzerland), Christoph R. Schreinmoser (Germany).