National cultural heritage: interdisciplinary approaches. reflections on the institution of responsibility in the matter

• Author: Cosmin Soare
• Position: Student of the Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest, coordinator prof. Dr. Vedinas Verginia
• Pages: 43-51

NATIONAL CULTURAL HERITAGE: INTERDISCIPLINARY

APPROACHES. REFLECTIONS ON THE INSTITUTION OF

RESPONSIBILITY IN THE MATTER

PhD. student Cosmin SOARE

1

Abstract

The research of the national cultural heritage from a legal perspective is a necessity in the p resent Romanian

legal space. The attention paid to this field has the vocation to contribute to shaping a national consciousness on the

importance of cultural heritage in the life and identity of Romanian society. The article proposes an objective approach

to regulations in the field, with the presentation of relevant examples from national and international jurisprudence as

an expression of the current state of cultural heritage protection. The development and adaptation of specific regulations,

policies and operations to the real needs of the cultural patrimony presup poses the concurrence of a complex of factors,

among which the public administration, through its authorities, institutions an d specialized bodies, plays a key role.

Keywords: cultural heritage law, administrative law, administrative accountability, public administration,

national identity.

JEL Classification: H41, K23

1. The justification of research

The present research has the mission to be part of the signals drawn in the sense of awareness

of the essential importance of the cultural heritage in the life and identity of the present and future

society, as well as in understanding the existence of its indissoluble interference with a number of

other factors, and public administration.

The people's living environment, the quality of life and the common identity of a society are

also influenced by the cultural, material or immaterial space, as well as the physical, natural or built

space. As far as physical space is concerned, we dedicated it to a separate article from the perspective

of urbanism, by virtue of its protection of general interests

2

. On the other hand, cultural space, from

the perspective of cultural heritage, receives due attention through this research

3

.

Without fear of mistakes, it can be appreciated that the current state of national cultural

heritage is the expression of a history of lasting shaken age, marked by radical changes in vision and

political action, profound social transformations and inadequate legal and moral protection.

Despite all this, a genuine national consciousness that draws in its depth the notion of cultural

patrimony seems often fragile or even latent. Such consciousness is not a given, but it must be built

with great care, it must be explained with patience and understood in its essence, it must be cultivated

and nourished with the desire to know the past, the present, and to prospect our common future. We

have a duty to promote a specific education on the role and place of cultural heritage in society.

Also, taking into account the social dimension of the law, the new social and legal realities, it

is recommended to separate and recognize a new branch of law, namely that of cultural heritage. This

would undoubtedly contribute to the crystallization of the notions specific to this subject, to the

strengthening and development of the institutions that make up them, to in-depth research and, finally,

1

Cosmin S oare – PhD. student of the Faculty o f Law, University of Bucharest, coordinator prof. Dr. Vedinaş Verginia,

cosmin.alexandru.soare@drd.unibuc.ro .

2

The article is to be published in th e Public Law Magazine number 1/2018 and is titled "The Codification of Urban Planning in

Romania. The European context. Reflections on the need for interdisciplinary approaches."

3

These researches are part of a complex of articles predicted by the auth or, under the guidance of Prof. Univ. Dr. Verginia Vedinaş,

having two central reference elements, namely: (i) awareness of the importance of cultural heritage and urbanism in the life and identity

of current and future society; and (ii) understanding of the indiscriminate interference of different branches or subjects such as cultural

heritage and urbanism, with a number of other factors, among which a key role is played b y the public administration. The results of

this research will substantiate and support in the future an in-depth analysis of the institu tion of patrimonial administrative

accountability in Romanian administrative law, to which the author is currently working as a PhD student at the Faculty of Law of the

University of Bucharest.