International heritage conventions

International conventions form the legal framework on which the protection of cultural heritage rests at a scale that transcends national borders. Portugal is party to a set of UNESCO and Council of Europe instruments which, once ratified, become part of the domestic legal order and guide both legislation and the practice of heritage institutions. These treaties establish definitions, safeguarding obligations and mechanisms of cooperation that directly influence the classification, inventorying and circulation of cultural property.

The UNESCO conventions

The first major instrument to which Portugal acceded was the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, adopted at The Hague in 1954, whose Portuguese instrument of ratification was deposited in 2001. This was followed in 1985 by accession to the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property — an instrument that continues to shape the debate on the restitution of cultural property of colonial origin.

The best-known document is the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, adopted in 1972. Portugal ratified it on 30 September 1980, following Decree no. 49/79. That accession paved the way for the first national inscriptions on the World Heritage List, in 1983, with the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and the Torre de Belém and the central zone of Angra do Heroísmo.

In 2003, UNESCO approved the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, ratified by Portugal on 21 May 2008. By recognising practices, knowledge and expressions transmitted by communities, this instrument underpins the national regime of intangible cultural heritage and the nomination of expressions such as fado or cante alentejano to the international lists.

The Council of Europe conventions

In parallel with UNESCO, the Council of Europe produced a set of conventions of European regional scope. The Granada Convention of 1985 is devoted to the safeguarding of architectural heritage; the Valletta Convention of 1992 sets out principles for the protection of archaeological heritage, with particular attention to preventive interventions in the context of construction work.

The most recent instrument is the Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society, known as the Faro Convention because it was opened for signature in that Algarve city in 2005. Ratified by Portugal in 2008, it shifts the focus from the heritage object to people, affirming the right of communities to take part in the identification and enjoyment of their heritage.

Effects in Portuguese law

By virtue of the principle of automatic reception enshrined in the Constitution, these conventions take effect within the domestic order after ratification and publication. Their concepts were incorporated into the cultural heritage legislation, notably the 2001 Framework Law, and shape the action of the competent bodies in matters of classification, inventorying and international cooperation. Thus, the commitments undertaken at the multilateral level translate into concrete obligations for the Portuguese State and for those who manage heritage.