Chapter 2 portrays the changing legal landscape addressing the legality – or lack thereof – of the cross-border movement and trade of cultural property. It starts by identifying the key features of legal divergence across national legal systems, concerning both private law and public law aspects, and discusses how this disparity poses a challenge for dealing not only with past actions but also with the current features of the global market for cultural objects. It then provides an overview of the evolution of international institutions and legal norms related to cultural property, such as the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property,

1 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, Nov. 14, 1970, 823 U.N.T.S. 231

. which focuses on public international law, and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects,

2 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects, June 24, 1995, 2421 U.N.T.S. 457

. which introduces a key dimension of private international law. This chapter demonstrates how new legal avenues are being pursued to address the gaps created by the traditional system of international conventions, specifically through the introduction of criminal law and law enforcement measures, including regional and bilateral collaborations. It highlights, respectively, the role of the European Union and bilateral mechanisms to which U.S. federal and state agencies are a party. The chapter then introduces how “legalistic ethical reasoning” may operate in scenarios where hard-law claims are unavailable, such as in cases involving cultural property dispossessed during the Nazi era.