ICA/EGATTT Webinar — Documentary Heritage and Law Enforcement (Webinar 3)

The presentation will focus on the Bill issued by the Italian Chambers in 2022 to update the national legal system on protecting cultural heritage, and will consider its provisions within the frame of the Italian commitment and compliance with international rule, regulations and standards. In particular, the relations between this new Bill, UNSC Resolution 2347 (2017) and the UN Convention against Organized Crime will be examined.

From March 2020 to October 2023 Mr. Marini served as Justice and Secretary general of the High Court of Cassation. Previous to this position, he served as Legal Advisor at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations (2014-2020), with a special dedication to the Rule of Law, Human Rights issues, protecting cultural heritage, with specific work on UN Security Council resolution 2347/2017, and countering corruption, organized crime and terrorism. In 2001-2002 and from 2006 to 2014 served as Justice at the High Court in Rome. In 2006 and 2007 he headed the European Project aimed at strengthening the institutional role and the performances of the Judiciary in Albania. From 2002 to 2006 he served as elected member at the High Council of the Judiciary, with a special dedication to judicial training and international relations. In previous years he served as prosecutor and judge from 1982 to 1996. From 1996 to 2001 served as staff member of the Ministry of Justice. He is an author of numerous publications on legal and criminal matters and publications dedicated to the protection of cultural heritage as well as to the culture of lawfulness.

The presentation will focus on protection in national legislation. She will also introduce a regional approach like the import and export regulations in Europe and the 1970 UNESCO convention. She highlights what provenance information is essential for law enforcement and in cases of returns.

Marja van Heese is an art historian (Leiden University) and has been working as a senior cultural policy advisor at the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and as a senior inspector in the Information and Heritage Inspectorate in The Hague. Within the Inspectorate, Marja coordinates matters regarding EU and UNESCO legislation on cultural goods and is represented in several (inter)national working groups. A point of special interest is the protection and illicit trafficking of cultural goods. In that respect she was also involved in several returns of cultural objects to the countries of origin. She has written several articles on this subject.

The presentation will share examples from the National Archives of France, introducing the issue of theft and highlighting the challenges involved in protecting cultural heritage. It will outline France’s role as a founding member of early international regulations and tools aimed at preventing and combating illicit trafficking of cultural goods. The talk will describe France’s robust national legal framework, which is enforced through an active professional network and various protective measures. It will also recount some well-known cases of theft and recovery, moving from myth to reality, and conclude with recommendations for enhancing the security of public collections.

After graduating from the Ecole nationale des Chartes and the Ecole nationale du patrimoine in 1990 and 1991, she held a variety of positions as a heritage curator specialising in archives within the Ministry of Culture, in both central and local government. In particular, she was responsible for international relations at the French Archives directorate, director of the Archives départementales of Essonne, and since 2016, she has been in charge of the Office for archival heritage protection at the French Archives directorate. She has also been a member of the committee of experts for UNESCO's Memory of the World programme since 2014, and a member of the ICA/EGATTT working group since 2020.

The presentation will address common cyber threats such as phishing, social engineering, malware, viruses, insider threats, data breaches, denial of service attacks (DoS/DDoS), and ransomware that pose risks to documentary heritage. It will explore why documentary heritage is particularly vulnerable to these digital threats and emphasize strategies for building resilience through prevention, protection, detection, and response. The discussion will also highlight the importance of international collaboration, referencing the UN Cybercrime Convention as

A M Chandra Bahadur is a Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer and Cybercrime Investigation Expert at the UNODC Regional Centre for Combatting Cybercrime. Holding master’s degrees in Computer Science and Public Administration, he brings over 25 years of law enforcement experience specializing in IT, digital forensics, and cybercrime. His career includes roles such as Digital Crime Investigator at Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau, Cybercrime Investigator at the Metropolitan Police Crime Division, IT Administrator, and UN Police Officer deployed to Darfur, Timor-Leste, and Kosovo. He excels in establishing cybercrime units, delivering training programs, managing digital forensic capabilities, and collaborating internationally with agencies including INTERPOL. Currently, he focuses on strengthening criminal justice capacities to handle digital evidence and cybercrime investigations, particularly in protecting documentary heritage from digital threats.

The presentation will explore how documentary heritage is targeted by organized crime, going beyond mere technical vulnerabilities. It will examine how trafficking networks exploit digital platforms through forged documents, laundering, and manipulation of provenance. The discussion will highlight digital manipulation as a tool to facilitate heritage crimes, such as altering ownership records or erasing traces of theft, including tampering with registries or archives as a form of strategic criminal exploitation. From the UNODC’s perspective, the presentation will address crime prevention, justice, and the intersection of cultural property trafficking. It will encourage archives and libraries to adopt criminal justice awareness practices, such as reporting suspicious activities and properly handling evidence. The importance of cross-sector partnerships between cultural institutions and criminal justice agencies will be emphasized, along with the need for a shared language between curators and investigators. Finally, the session will detail UNODC’s capacity-building efforts through its Global Programme on Criminal Network Disruption and advocate for the use of the Cybercrime Convention not only for cybersecurity but also for investigating cultural crimes.

Murat Yildiz is an expert and seasoned criminal justice practitioner in international security, specializing in trafficking in cultural property, transnational organized crime, and illicit trafficking. With over 25 years of experience, he has worked with prominent international organizations, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law (IIJ), where his contributions have been pivotal in strengthening criminal justice systems and enhancing international cooperation. He has also developed a range of knowledge products, mixed method research for both OSCE and UNODC, advancing research, policymaking, and capacity-building efforts within these organizations. Currently serving as Lead in Trafficking in Cultural Property at the Global Programme on Criminal Network Disruption within UNODC, he supports Member States and criminal justice agencies worldwide to enhance law enforcement strategies, and combat trafficking in cultural property as well as organized crime along key trafficking routes. His work focuses on providing technical assistance and support to strengthen national capacities in combating cultural property trafficking, while also fostering enhanced international and regional cooperation. Murat Yildiz is a graduate of Ankara University and University of Vienna, where he also earned his post graduate degrees. His academic background provided a strong foundation in the areas of international relations.

Beth Kilmarx has recently been appointed as Director at the Boston Medical Library. Before this she was the Assistant University Librarian of Special Collections and previously served as the Associate Dean of Special Collections. Before moving to Texas, she served as the Assistant Dean of Libraries for Assessment, Development and Technical Services at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania University Libraries (IUP).  Prior to IUP, Kilmarx was the Curator of Rare Books in the Special Collections department in the University Libraries at Binghamton University. She is a former member of IFLA’s Rare Books and Special Collections section and presently is a member of IFLA’s the Advisory Committee on Standards. She serves as a member of ICA/EGATTT, and co-chair of ALA/RBMS’s Security Committee.  Kilmarx is also the co-chair of the RBMS 2025 annual conference.  She received her BA in History from the University of Connecticut, her MA in Anthropology from Binghamton University, and her MLS in Library Science from the University at Albany.