The Necessity of International Court for Cultural Heritage Dispute Settlement; Ideal or Reality?

With the evolution of international law and formation of legal system for international protection of cultural heritage from the second half of the twentieth century in the framework of UNESCO, the mechanisms for international dispute settlement were also predicted in this domain and evolved in the long run.
With regard to the trend of changing nature of international disputes, unlike the past, currently the disputes concerning cultural heritage are not merely limited to the jurisdiction of national courts or a predicted framework in UNIDROIT convention 1995. On the other hand, multidimensional and mixed nature of cultural heritage and its relation to different subjects in international law such as criminal law, trade law, investment law and human rights has made dispute settlement process a specialized and complicated one in this domain.
Therefore, in order to reinforce the trend of formation and evolution of international law of cultural heritage, it is necessary to reinforce judicial structures and practices for protecting cultural heritage. Hence, like the other domains of international law, it is necessary to consider the possibility of establishing a specialized international court for the international community.