Protection of underwater cultural heritage: international regulation and problems of implementation

Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage: International Regulation and Problems of Implementation Fast growth of the danger to the underwater cultural heritage, which occurs from the industrial extraction, development of infrastructure or commercial usage, invites society to take action and adjust to rising issues accordingly. With that intention wide variety of conventions are introduced, so principles of cooperation between Member States would be defined, international security standards would be consolidated, cooperation between countries gets facilitated, methodical recommendations and objective aid are being provided. However this heritage should not only be protected for the benefit of humanity, but also be accessible for the responsibly performed practices of the tourism domain, in order to deliver benefit for everybody. Every country, which joins these international treaties, creates their own system for protection of national heritage, which helps to preserve the most valuable heritage objects existing in its territory. This work is dedicated for underwater heritage protection practices identification, by analysing international regulations, reoccurring execution issues and suggesting solutions for these issues. The analysis of the development of the law of underwater cultural heritage protection and the legal acts regulating it leads to the conclusion that the definition of what is to be protected is not clear enough and does not allow to introduce the requirement of significance in the interpretations of some countries. Also, in 2001 The UNESCO convention governs matters which 1982 The UN convention left open, but it does not contradict this convention in any way. Distinguishing and evaluating the basic principles of underwater cultural heritage protection helped to conclude that the general principles apply to all activities aimed at underwater cultural heritage and that those activities should be carried out in the public interest in order to make a significant contribution to protection, knowledge and development. Separating the underwater cultural heritage from shipwreck disposal, salvage of wealth, underwater finds and marine scientific researches, it can be concluded that underwater cultural heritage researches can be considered as part of marine researches, and that the management of legacy from both World Wars and potentially dangerous wreckage from the past is an issue, which should be addressed by the international community as a matter of urgency. International jurisdiction and their application in the context of underwater cultural heritage, the rights of the countries, jurisdiction and obligations according to the United Nations Law of the Sea convention and the fundamental rights and obligations according to the international maritime law and national regulation separation and discussion of the rules for the coastal State leads to the conclusion that the jurisdiction of the coastal State with regard to the underwater cultural heritage in the exclusive economic zone and on the continental shelf beyond twenty-four nautical miles is not foreseen, and that the recognition of the jurisdiction of a coastal State in this area could provide a secure legal system in which the rules of the 2001 UNESCO Convention will apply