DCMS has published documents setting out implementation measures in three key areas: cultural property protected by the Convention and Protocols; safeguarding protected cultural property; and use of the cultural emblem. Separate guidance deals with the new offence of dealing in unlawfully exported cultural property which is created by section 17 of the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Act 2017.
Part one of the document identifies seven categories of cultural property in the UK which the Government considers meet the definition of cultural property set out in the Convention and are therefore protected by the Convention and Protocols.
A. All listed buildings of Grade I (England & Wales), Category A (Scotland) and Grade A (Northern Ireland) status;
B. All historic parks and gardens of Grade I status in England and Wales;
C. All UK World Heritage Sites, excluding those which are inscribed as natural sites only;
D. The collections of the museums and galleries that are sponsored by Her Majesty’s Government, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive;
E. Designated Collections in England and Recognised Collections in Scotland (covering collections at museums, galleries, libraries, archives and universities);
F. The records and collections of the National Record Offices, the five legal deposit libraries in the UK and the British Film Institute National Archive; and
G. Properties in state guardianship in the UK (including properties in the National Heritage Collection in England; Properties in Care of the Scottish Ministers; Properties in Care of the Welsh Ministers; and Monuments in State Care or Guardianship in Northern Ireland).
These categories are indicative and non-exhaustive: there may be other cultural property which meets the definition and which is therefore also protected. A full summary of the document’s content is here.