Three "Synapses" of the legal protection of Macedonian cultural heritage

This paper examines the Macedonian legal framework for the protection of cultural heritage through three lenses: the internal legal framework, the international legal framework and cultural heritage as a human right. Each of these frameworks does not exist by itself, but are all intertwined in certain synapses, with a common goal – better protection of cultural heritage. The internal legal framework is constructed around the Law for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, which is a basic law that protects movable and immovable cultural heritage. However, certain issues related to cultural heritage transcend territorial boundaries and are covered by the Private International Law Act. On the other hand, illegal trade transcends the country's territorial borders, hence, the impact of the UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects on national legislation is enormous. The Treatment of Cultural Heritage as a Human Right and the Obligation to Protect Cultural Property, provide legal protection by the European Court of Human Rights, which, through the protection of property rights under Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, closes this synapse of protection of cultural heritage. This paper aims to map this complex matrix of the legal protection of cultural heritage and to point out the need to develop the capacities of all relevant institutions dealing with the protection of cultural heritage and to point out certain improvements to the legal regulation in order to reconcile the possible overlaps and interferences of these three legal frameworks.