Abstract
Crime with art and antiquities often involves cross-border crime (de Roux and Paringaux 1999; Tijhuis 2009a). Both stolen art and illegally excavated antiquities are often, and in the case of antiquities usually, taken abroad to be sold there (Brodie et al. 2001; Middlemas 1975). In this chapter, crime with art and antiquities are limited to situations of cross-border crime. The analysis here is based primarily on a PhD study that focused on the interfaces between legal and illegal actors around transnational crime, and in particular the illicit art and antiquities trade (Tijhuis 2006). The study made use of both official data gathered in the Netherlands, France, and Italy, as well as interviews with experts and open sources like academic literature and (specialized) media reports.
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Notes
- 1.
According to economist T. Naylor, in the year 2000, for example, over a trillion cigarettes were exported around the world. However, only 650 million cigarettes were actually imported. Thus, “about one cigarette in every three of those that entered world trade circuits went up in smoke” (Naylor 2004: 407).
- 2.
As far as the illegal trade is organized by legitimate companies or states, one could also consider these activities as corporate or state-crime. However, in the analysis here, they are treated as examples of transnational crime, focusing primarily on the activities instead of the actors involved.
- 3.
To be sure, the punishment if relatively harsh within the Dutch context. Compared to the US, for example, sentences are quite modest.
- 4.
Banco Ambrosiano was an Italian bank owned by a Luxemburg registered holding company. It was involved in a complex scheme of capital flight, a network of offshore subsidiaries and funding of political parties and several foreign governments. The bank collapsed in 1982, causing a huge scandal. One of the shareholders of the bank was the Vatican Bank (Raw 1992; Trepp 1996).
- 5.
Within the European Union, the EU Council Regulation 3911/92 regulates the export of cultural goods from member states. Furthermore, EU Council Directive 93/7 provides a set of rules for the return to the (EU) country of origin of cultural objects that were unlawfully removed from the territory of a member state. Finally, EU Council Regulation 1210/2003 provides specific restrictions on the import of cultural goods (and other objects) from Iraq.
- 6.
In theory, the EU Directive for the Restitution of illegally exported cultural goods, should erase part of this problem. In practice, this does not change the situation very much. First of all, the directive is very hard to use effectively, and secondly it will by definition be without much effect if local authorities in Belgium or the Netherlands do not actively enforce the national and EU laws.
- 7.
Judgment of the Montbrison Court, File No. 02/01050, March 6, 2003.
- 8.
The name of the person meant here is altered.
- 9.
The written questions in Parliament were raised by MP J. M. Verspaget (Labor Party) on July 11, 1995. The Minister of Justice at the time, W. Sorgdrager, replied on August 26, 1996. See: “Aanhangsel Handelingen”, No. 1627, vergaderjaar 1995–96.
- 10.
All remarks about the Netherlands here should be read within the context of the situation prior to 2008 when the UNESCO Convention was implemented.
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Tijhuis, A.J.G. (2011). The Trafficking Problem: A Criminological Perspective. In: Manacorda, S., Chappell, D. (eds) Crime in the Art and Antiquities World. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7946-9_5
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