Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Art Business
Abstract
This dissertation is a legal analysis of cultural heritage crime prosecution at the International Criminal Court aimed for art market practitioners. It seeks to evaluate whether the ICC could be an effective means of prosecuting cultural heritage crime in a way that positively effects the art market. It closely reads the Rome Statute to determine how the cultural heritage crimes of looting and intentional destruction of cultural property could be charged at the ICC. It then uses the case studies of Prosecutor v. Al Mahdi and Prosecutor v. Al Hassan, the only two cultural heritage cases at the ICC to date, to evaluate how the ICC has treated cultural heritage in the past and whether it has been effective in doing so. It then closely analyses the crime of looting, how it could be charged at the ICC, and whether prosecution could have an impact on the art market.
Recommended Citation
Houlihan, Kassidy, "Laws, Looting, and Legitimate Trade: The Effectiveness of the ICC at Prosecuting Cultural Heritage Crimes from an Art Market Perspective" (2026). MA in Art Business Dissertations. 15.
https://digitalcommons.sia.edu/ma_art_bus/15