Museums and Cultural Heritage: Law/Ethics

UNESCO provides a comprehensive database of laws and agreements relating to cultural heritage from their member states. Searches can be narrowed down by country along with themes, keywords, and categories.

Provides links to documents of U.S. legislation, international conventions, and other regulations and to
the Department of State's Cultural Heritage Center which specializes in the protection and preservation of irreplaceable ancient and historic monuments, objects, and archaeological sites of the world.

The AAM represents museums across the United States and encourages all museums to commit to the AAM’s national standards, best practices and ethical guidelines, and aspire to excellence. AAM provides resources to support accreditation, museum assessment, funding, advocacy, career and professional development.

ASOR is an organization that endorses and encourages the study of civilizations from the Near East. ASOR strives to increase study of the region, develop, and maintain safe standards.

The AIA is North America’s oldest organization dedicated to archaeology. Its web site has many documents regarding professional standards, ethics of importation and acquisition of antiquities; policies, procedures, and annual reports. The AIA promotes a greater understanding of archaeology and preservation of the world’s archaeological heritage.

The AAMD is an organization dedicated to increasing the contribution of art museums to society.
The AAMD establishes the highest standards of professional practice, serves as a forum for information exchange, and serves as an advocate for member museums. Among the important documents accessible via the website are: the AAMD Protocols for Safe Havens for Works of Cultural Significance from Countries in Crisis, 2015; 2013 Guidelines on the Acquisition of Archaeological Material and Ancient Art. Documents for Advocacy issues involve federal funding, tax law, international issues of cultural heritage.

ICOM represents museums across the globe, and has a code of professional standards that apply to all members. ICOM hopes to more fully standardize how museums interact with objects. The ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums sets the minimum standards of professional practice.