•  
  •  
 

Abstract

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) recognizes the protection and preservation of underwater cultural heritage found at sea by emphasizing preferential rights of the State of country of origin, the State of cultural origin, or the State of historical and archaeological origin. To preserve the rights of such States, the UNCLOS implicitly allows the removal of underwater cultural heritage upon prior approval from coastal States based on the State’s cooperation. On the other hand, the Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001 (2001 UCH Convention) strictly prohibits any exploitation and commercialization of such cultural heritage and applies the in-situ preservation for underwater cultural heritage. This article aims to discuss the practice of Indonesia in regulating underwater cultural heritage found in Indonesian waters. This research found that Indonesia’s law allows the removal of underwater cultural heritage and made commercial salvage for underwater cultural heritage legal. In addition to this, with the enaction of the current Job Creation Law 2021, underwater cultural heritage is listed as one of the fields in which open-investment is applied. While Indonesia has national laws relating to cultural heritage, provisions on underwater cultural heritage is lacking. This article proposes a model that can be adopted by Indonesia in protecting and preserving underwater cultural heritage. It is argued that although Indonesia is not a party to UCH Convention 2001, it is a party to the UNCLOS and is binded to the provisions envisaged in it, which is to protect and preserve underwater cultural heritage.

References

Journal Articles and Periodicals

Clément, Etienne. “Current Developments at UNESCO Concerning the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. Presentation Made at the First and the Second National Maritime Museum Conferences on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage (Greenwich, 3 and 4 February.” Marine Policy 20, no. 4 (1996): 313–16. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/0308-597X(96)00015-2.

Forrest, Craig. “Has the Application of Salvage Law to Underwater Cultural Heritage Become a Thing of the Past?” Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce 34, no. 2 (2003): 309–349.

Frost, Robyn. “Underwater Cultural Heritage Protection.” Australian Yearbook of International Law 23, no. 1 (2004): 25–50.

Meskin, Senada. “Legal Status of Warship Wrecks From World War Ii in Indonesian Territorial Waters (Incident of H.M.a.S. Perth Commercial Salvaging).” Brawijaya Law Journal 2, no. 2 (2015): 103–119. https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.blj.2015.002.02.06.

Mufsi Batubara, Asyhadi. “Pelindungan Cagar Budaya Bawah Air Dalam Kajian Analisis Hukum [Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage in Legal Analysis Studies].” Jurnal Konservasi Cagar Budaya 8, no. 1 (2014): 48–57. https://doi.org/10.33374/jurnalkonservasicagarbudaya.v8i1.124.

Puspitawati, Dhiana. “Indonesian Salvage Law within the Framework of Contemporary Maritime Law.” Brawijaya Law Journal 2, no. 2 (2015): 20–38.

Varmer, Ole. “Closing the Gaps in the Law Protecting Underwater Cultural Heritage on the Outer Continental Shelf.” Stanford Environmental Law Journal 33, no. 2 (2014): 251–286.

Books and Book Chapters

Aznar, Mariano J. “The Legal Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage: Concerns and Proposals.” in Ocean Law and Policy: Twenty Years of Development under the UNCLOS Regime, edited by Carlos Espósito, James Kraska, Harry N Scheiber, and Moon-Sang Kwon, Martinus Nijhoff, 2016.

Bowman, Anne. “Underwater Archaeology: The NAS Guide to Principles and Practice.” in Nautical Archaeology Society. 2nd ed. Edited by Amanda Bow. Portsmouth: Wiley-Blackwell, 2008.

Dromgoole, Sarah. Underwater Cultural Heritage and International Law. Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Fenwick, Valerie, and Alison Gale. Historic Shipwrecks: Discovered, Protected and Investigated. Tempus Publishing, 1998.

Francioni, Francesco. “Cultural Heritage.” In Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law no. 7, Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law, 2013.

Garabello, Roberta. “Salvage.” In Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law no. 4 Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law, 2007.

Hoffman, B.T. “Who Owns the Titanic’s Trasures? Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.” In Art and Cultural Heritage: Law, Policy and Practice, edited by B.T Hoffman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

McKee, Alexander. How We Found the Mary Rose. London: Souvenir Press, 1982.

Nafziger, James A.R. Frontiers of Cultural Heritage Law. Brill | Nijhoff, 2021.

O’Keefe, Patrick J. Shipwrecked Heritage: A Commentary on the UNESCO Convention on Underwater Cultural Heritage. Leicester: Institute of Art and Law, 2002.

Pearson, Natali. “Protecting and Preserving Underwater Cultural Heritage in Southeast Asia” in The Palgrave Handbook on Art Crime, by Saskia Hufnagel, Duncan Chappell. Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.

Perez-Alvaro, Elena. Underwater Cultural Heritage: Ethical Concepts and Practical Challenges. Taylor & Francis, 2019.

Puspitawati, Dhiana. The Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage in Indonesian Law: Does Sunken Warship Count? London: CRC Press, 2019.

Strati, Anastasia. The Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage: An Emerging Objective of the Contemporary Law of the Sea. BRILL, 2021.

Legal Documents

Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (entered into force 1972).

Convention for the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (entered into force 2 November 2001).

Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources of the High Seas (entered into force 29 April 1958)

Convention on the Continental Shelf (entered into force 29 April 1958)

Convention on the High Seas (entered into force 29 April 1958)

Convention on the Means of Prohibiting the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (opened for signature 1970, entered into force 24 April 1972).

Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone (Opened for signature 29 April 1958, entered into force 10 Sepetember 1964)

Indonesia. Undang-Undang Cagar Budaya. UU No. 11 Tahun 2010. (Law on Cultural Heritage. Law No. 11 Year 2010).

Indonesia. Undang-Undang Pelayaran. UU No 17 Tahun 2008. (Law on Seafaring. Law No. 17 Year 2008).

Indonesia. Undang-Undang Kelautan. UU No. 32 Tahun 2014. (Law on Ocean Affairs. Law No. 32 Year 2014).

Indonesia. Keputusan Presiden Panitia Nasional Pengangkatan Dan Pemanfaatan Benda Berharga Asal Muatan Kapal Yang Tenggelam. Keputusan Presiden No. 107 Tahun 2000. (Presidential Decree on National Committee for the Removal and Utilization of Valuable Objects from the Cargo of Sunken Ships. Presidential Decree No. 107 Year 2000).

Indonesia. Keputusan Presiden Panitia Nasional Pengangkatan dan Pemanfaatan Benda Berharga Asal Muatan Kapal yang Tenggelam. Keputusan Presiden No. 19 Tahun 2007. (Presidential Decree on the National Committee for the Removal and Utilization of Valuable Objects from the Cargo of a Sinking Ship. Presidential Decree No. 19 Year 2007).

Law of The Sea Convention. (Opened for signature 1982, entered into force 1994).

Paris Convention 1954 Formerly Known as European Cultural Convention (entered into force 5 May 1955)

The Convention for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage of Europe 1969 (entered into force 20 November 1970)

The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (entered into force 1954)

Others

Australian Institute of Maritime Archaeology. “What Is Maritime Archaeology?” Accessed January 20, 2023. https://www.aima-underwater.org.au/what-is-maritime-archaeology.html.

Helmi, Surya. “Potensi Peninggalan Arkeolog Bawah Air Di Perairan Sumatera [Potential Underwater Archaeological Remains in Sumatran Waters].” Amonghapasa. Jakarta, 2009. http://kebudayaan.kemdikbud.go.id/bpnbyogyakarta/wpcontent/uploads/sites/28/2014/12/Amoghapasa-2009-13-sugi-a.pdf.

Pearson, Natali. “Heritage Adrift.” Inside Indonesia, 5 July 2016. https://www.insideindonesia.org/heritage-adrift.

Download

Share

COinS