Konwencja UNESCO o ochronie podwodnego dziedzictwa kulturowego z 2001 roku a prawo polskie. Postulaty de lege ferenda w zakresie regulacji wydobywania zabytków z morza

Abstract

The aim of this article is to formulate de lege ferenda conclusions that result from Poland’s ratification of the 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. After a brief analysis of the principles of this Convention and comparing them with the relevant provisions of Polish Law, the author proposes five fundamental changes that should be made to this Law for greater effectiveness. These concern, in particular, the regulation of archaeological research, including the procedures intended for foreign entities and the participation of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. Moreover, the article addresses the exclusion of the application at sea of the provisions on the search for „hidden or abandoned movable monuments” and the search for „shipwrecks and their remains”. Finally, it recommends moving the procedure for „searching shipwrecks” to the statutory level and unambiguously defining the legal status of monuments extracted from the sea, which according to the Convention „cannot be traded”.