Institute of Art and Law

The Institute of Art and Law is an educational organisation giving knowledge and perspective on the law relating to cultural heritage a concept which includes art, antiquities, archives, archaeology, architecture, monuments, treasure and much, much more. IAL’s educational remit is fulfilled through publishing and courses. It convenes distance learning and intensive courses (both public and in-house) on art and museums law, as well as seminars, study groups and conferences in the United Kingdom and abroad. It also publishes monographs and commentaries on all aspects of the law relating to cultural heritage, in addition to a quarterly periodical, Art Antiquity and Law, now in its twentieth year. The law of cultural heritage is a wide remit: it encompasses a vast range of subject matter, from copyright and art theft, to protection of buried treasure and shipwrecks, return of human remains from museum collections, restitution of illegally exported antiquities and art wrongfully taken in time of war including Holocaust-looted, archives and religious objects, through to planning regulations protecting listed buildings and scheduled monuments, and the organisation of international blockbuster exhibitions. Internationally recognised, IAL delivers, through its educational and publishing programmes, a depth of knowledge unrivalled elsewhere.