A study on the laws related to the ownership of ancient objects based on the opinions of Shiite jurists

Antiquities are property that is one hundred years or more old. These objects are part of public property and cannot be privately owned and are given to the government for protection. A person who obtains such property by unauthorized excavation is considered a criminal and in addition to confiscating the property, he is sentenced to imprisonment. but anyone who accidentally acquires this property, must hand it over to the Cultural Heritage Organization and be paid a fee for the right to discover it. If the antiquities are made of precious metals and jewels and are discovered in private property, it is paid equal to twice the daily price of its raw material and in the case of other objects, half of this amount. This amount will be reduced by half if these items are found in others land. This is not in accordance with Imami jurisprudence. According to the jurists, the treasure and any treasury belong to its discoverer and the only duty of the owner is to pay khums to the Islamic ruler. Current laws for protection of antiquities isn’t proper. First, the amount of the discover- right is very low, because in calculating it, only the value of its raw material is calculated. Secondly, due to the high costs of exploration, it is necessary to provide the necessary plans for private sector participation in this field: Such as transferring part of the daily price of the discovered objects to the private sector or these objects are exposed to the public in the form of a museum or exhibition and its revenues are distributed according to the contract between the government and the private sector.