The Regulation of Illicit Cultural Heritage Trafficking under Ethiopian Law: Analysis of the Problem of Non- comprehensive Criminalization and Inconsistent Penalties

Abstract

The illicit cultural heritage trafficking belongs to the most profitable criminal activities alongside illicit drug and firearms trafficking. It is impoverishing the history, archeological context, culture, and similar resources of states. Furthermore, it has now become a security concern, and thus, the intervention of criminal law is highly required. To circumvent the problem, the Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage Proclamation of Ethiopia, Proclamation 209/2000, incorporates provisions that regulate crimes related to cultural heritage trafficking. Writers have indicated that the incorporation of criminal offenses within administrative legislations, including Proclamation 209/2000, may create a problem of over-criminalization. Specifically, the Proclamation has been criticized for prescribing a penalty in a way that could lead to over-criminalization. This article nonetheless explores another equally problematic dimension of the Proclamation related to inadequate criminalization. Accordingly, the article argued that the inadequacy of the law results from non-comprehensive criminalization and inconsistent penalties. Following doctrinal research methodology, the article critically examined relevant literatures, laws, policies, international conventions, and soft laws. Besides, the author employed the Four-stage Network Model to explain the nature of cultural heritage trafficking as a transnational and organized crime. Consequently, for the sake of triggering academic and policy debates, the article recommends that the UNODC non-binding guidelines and the UNTOC could be referred to as a guide to fill the gaps with due human rights safeguards.