Experiences of the Hungarian Criminal Jurisdiction Concerning the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property

Abstract

The aim of the present research is to explore the measures of the Hungarian law enforcement for the protection of cultural property. Provisions, civil and criminal wrongs in this field are regulated by public administrative and criminal law. In this project the issue is examined from an international prespective with special emphasis on the Italian solutions. The main purpose of this research is the analysis of the criminal justice practice. One of the most serious cases among the offenses against cultural properties are referred to in literature as the illicit trading of cultural property. However, illicit trading of cultural properties is an ambiguous expression; the literature usually means transnational crime against cultural properties (antiquities) under this term. There are no specific provisions for illicit trading of cultural properties in the Hungarian Criminal Code. The literature uses it as a collective term for different criminal offences. In 2018, an empirical research on crimes committed against cultural properties between 2012 and 2016 has been conducted. The offenses examined were theft, robbery, dealing in stolen goods, criminal offenses with protected cultural goods and budget fraud. In addition, the personal and organisational requirements to combat the illicit trading of cultural properties has been studied, and recommendations based on the results were outlined.