Ateneo - UPO

The course provides an introduction to cultural heritage law, focusing on the Italian Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code (Legislative Decree 42/2004) and its Constitutional, European and International sources.

Topics included in the course: the notion of cultural and landscape asset; protection (restriction, assessment and declaration of cultural interest, cataloguing); conservation; circulation of cultural assets (transfer, pre-emption, export); enhancement and public enjoyment of heritage (museums, libraries, archives, sponsorship, patronage), including the recent reform on subsidiary enhancement (Law 40/2026); landscape protection; an outline of sanctions and of the digitalisation of cultural heritage.

Legislative text

Legislative Decree 22 January 2004, no. 42, Code of Cultural Heritage and Landscape, in its currently updated version (as last amended by Law 17 March 2026, no. 40), freely available at www.normattiva.it. Students are required to know the articles indicated by the instructor during classes.

Textbook (one to be chosen among the following, unless otherwise indicated during the course)

C. Barbati, L. Cammelli, L. Casini, G. Piperata, G. Sciullo, Diritto del patrimonio culturale, Bologna, il Mulino, ultima edizione disponibile (parti indicate a lezione).

M.A. Cabiddu, G. Nicola, Diritto dei beni culturali e del paesaggio, Torino, Giappichelli, ultima edizione disponibile (parti indicate a lezione)

Gaffuri, F. (a cura di), Diritto dei beni culturali, Le Monnier Università, 2023, ultima edizione disponibile (parti indicate a lezione)

Suggested further reading (optional)

L. Conte, Il paesaggio e la Costituzione, Napoli, Editoriale Scientifica, 2018.

Supplementary teaching materials

A selection of case law summary sheets will be made available by the teacher on the DIR - Didattica in Rete platform (www.dir.uniupo.it) during the course and updated throughout.

The above bibliographic references apply to both attending and non-attending students; any further specification on the textbook sections required for the exam will be communicated by the teacher and notified on DIR.

The course is consistent with the specific educational objectives of the Degree Programme in Literature and Humanities (Class L-10), as set out in the SUA-CdS, and in particular with the learning area dedicated to Cultural Heritage and with the "Cultural Heritage" programme.

The course comprises 24 hours of lecture-based teaching, devoted to a systematic presentation of the fundamental concepts of the subject, and 6 hours of interactive teaching, devoted to the discussion of practical cases, administrative measures and case law, as well as self-assessment exercises with multiple-choice quizzes; the remaining hours are dedicated to individual study.

The general aim of the course is to provide students with no prior legal background with the fundamental concepts and legal institutions of cultural heritage law, needed to understand the constitutional, national, European and international legal framework within which cultural heritage professions operate (museums, libraries, archives, landscape protection).

In particular, the course aims to enable students to:

- recognise the legal nature of a cultural or landscape asset and to identify, among the protection, conservation, circulation and enhancement measures set out in the Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code, the one applicable to a given concrete case;

- understand, at an introductory level, the main dynamics of the relationship between public protection and private initiative in the enhancement of cultural heritage, including in light of the most recent legislative reforms (Law 17 March 2026, no. 40, on subsidiary enhancement).

A more advanced objective is to provide students with the tools to independently navigate legal sources (National, European and International) and to identify the bodies and authorities competent in matters of protection and enhancement, so that they can fully engage, in further studies and in professional practice, with the administrations and institutions operating in the cultural heritage sector.

No specific prerequisites or prior legal knowledge are required: the course is designed as an introductory course for students without a legal background. Students are expected to have an adequate ability to read, understand and analyse texts in Italian, common to all courses of the Degree Programme and already assessed through the entrance skills assessment test (TOLC). No preparatory courses or classes are required.

The course is delivered through lectures, presenting and systematising the fundamental institutions of cultural heritage law, with constant reference to the legislative text and to examples drawn from Italian cultural heritage.

These are complemented by interactive teaching activities designed to stimulate students' active participation: guided discussion of practical cases and administrative measures, analysis of short case-law excerpts on topical issues and self-assessment exercises.

All teaching materials (summary sheets, selected cases) are made available on the DIR - Didattica in Rete platform, to ensure equal access to information for both attending and non-attending students.

Students with disabilities, Specific Learning Disorders (DSA) or Special Educational Needs (BES) may request dedicated services and tools by contacting the University's Career Development Staff and Student Services and consulting the dedicated University webpage (https://uniupo.it/it/servizi/servizi-studentesse-e-studenti-condizione-di-disabilit%C3%A0-e-dsa). After contacting University Staff, they may contact the course instructor regarding the adaptation of exam arrangements and teaching aspects.

Erasmus and international students may agree with the instructor on language support arrangements for exam preparation (see "Teaching language").

Students interested in a more professionally oriented exploration of the topics covered in the course are referred to the opportunities offered by the "Cultural Heritage" track of the Degree Programme in Literature and Humanities.

The exam consists of a written multiple-choice test lasting 40 minutes.

Structure of the test: 16 multiple-choice questions, each with 3 answer options of which only one is correct. The questions are proportionally distributed across all thematic areas of the programme, so that passing the test requires balanced preparation across the whole programme rather than on individual parts. A portion of the questions (approximately one third) requires students to apply the concepts learned to short practical cases, rather than simply recalling definitions.

Scoring: each correct answer is worth 2 point; each incorrect or unanswered question is worth 0 points (no penalty is applied for incorrect answers). The maximum score is 32 points (cum laude).

Pass threshold: 18/30 correct answers, corresponding to knowledge of the fundamental concepts of the subject and to the ability to correctly identify the applicable legal regime in the simplest cases.

The test is held in a single session, with no ongoing/intermediate assessments, and is identical for attending and non-attending students.

Students with disabilities, Specific Learning Disorders (DSA) or Special Educational Needs (BES) may agree with the instructor on suitable arrangements for taking the test, as indicated in the "Other information" section.

1. Introductory notions and sources of cultural heritage law - The constitutional foundation of cultural heritage protection (Article 9 of the Italian Constitution) and the principle of horizontal subsidiarity (Article 118); international sources (the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict; the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property; the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention; the 2005 Faro Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society); European sources; the structure and general principles of the Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code (Legislative Decree 22 January 2004, no. 42).

2. The notion of cultural asset and landscape asset - Movable and immovable cultural assets; public and private assets; cultural assets of religious interest; an outline of intangible cultural heritage. The allocation of competences between the State, the Regions and local authorities in matters of cultural heritage and landscape.

3. Protection of cultural assets - Assessment and declaration of cultural interest; the restriction ("vincolo") and its effects; obligations arising from protection (conservation, physical protection, custody); the cataloguing of cultural heritage.

4. Conservation and interventions on cultural assets - Conservation and restoration works; the authorisation regime; supervision and inspection; an outline of conservation and restoration professions.

5. Circulation of cultural assets - Transfer of public and private cultural assets; the State's right of pre-emption; the export of cultural assets from national territory; combating illicit trafficking and the restitution of cultural assets unlawfully removed or exported.

6. Enjoyment and enhancement of cultural heritage - Cultural institutions and places (museums, libraries, archives, archaeological areas and parks); principles governing public enjoyment; enhancement tools: concession of spaces, sponsorship and donations (Art Bonus). The reform introduced by Law 17 March 2026, no. 40: the principle of subsidiary enhancement of cultural heritage implementing Articles 9 and 118 of the Constitution and the Faro Convention, the digital register of horizontal subsidiarity, the register of cultural institutions and places, and the "Italia in scena" ("Italy on stage") circuit.

7. Landscape protection - Landscape planning; landscape authorisation; the relationship between landscape protection, territorial development and the energy transition: an outline.

8. Sanctions (outline) - Administrative offences and the main criminal offences relating to cultural heritage and landscape.

9. Public-private relations and the digitalisation of cultural heritage (outline) - Forms of public-private partnership in the management of cultural assets; digital access to cultural heritage and open data; an outline of ongoing reform prospects.

Throughout the course, practical cases and administrative measures on topical issues are also discussed, in order to encourage the application of theoretical concepts to concrete situations.

Knowledge and understanding: Students will know the constitutional, national, European and international sources of cultural heritage law; they will know the notion of cultural asset and landscape asset and the main institutions of protection, conservation, circulation and enhancement provided for by the Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code.

Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to identify, when faced with a simple concrete case (e.g. concerning a movable or immovable, public or private asset), the applicable legal regime in terms of protection, circulation or enhancement, and to recognise the competent bodies and authorities.

Learning skills: Students will become familiar with the main legal sources in the field (the Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code, international conventions, institutional websites) and with the tools for retrieving and updating them (e.g. Normattiva), so that they will be able to autonomously continue to deepen their knowledge of the subject in further studies and in professional practice.

Making critical assessments - Students will be able to critically explore the different solutions provided by the legal system when facing cases in which different interests - public protection, cultural enhancement, private initiative - come into tension with one another, identifying, with reasoned justification, the solution most consistent with the principles of the subject.