The War against the Illegal Antiquities Trade: Rules of Engagement for Source Nations

This article addresses the problems of retrieving stolen cultural property in a practical manner. Instead of proposing new legislation or changes in the current cultural property regime, this article argues that countries that are source nations for the growing illegal trade in antiquities should better prepare themselves for their retrieval attempts, which in turn gives them a better chance at retrieving them through civil cases. By focusing on settlements and cases won in the United States, the paper submits guidelines by which source nations can be best equipped to prevail in a United States civil suit of replevin