The Director of this office, Antonio Pedro Rodríguez Bernal, has intervened on 11th March 2015 on the radio programme “Esto me suena. Las tardes del Ciudadano García” of Radio Nacional de España -nationwide radiostation- on the ocassion of discussing the recent judgment held by the Madrid Appeal Court, Administrative Division (Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Madrid)…
I. Introduction Some countries in Europe have a strong industry devoted to cultural goods. Particularly, United Kingdom attracts a meaningful number of all cultural goods transactions that take place in the world. The art market is a prime example of British achievement in a highly competitive global environment. Britain has 29% of the global art…
In addition to being subscribed to a very special legal framework, one of the reasons to seek expert legal advice in operations relating to works of art and cultural heritage is taxation. The sale of works of art often has a transnational component, in which buyer and seller are of different nationalities and subject to…
En español. Auf Deutsch. Independantly of the peculiarities of regional legislation, the basic national Law of Spain refers to several categories of goods included in the Spanish Historical Heritage. A) Arqueological Heritage Article 40 of the Historical Heritage Act declares that movable or immovable property is part of this Heritage when it can be studied…
Antonio Pedro Rodríguez Bernal, director of this office, was awarded the Gold Medal of Professional Prestige by Forum Europe 2001 during a brilliant ceremony and gala dinner which was held at the Palace Hotel in Madrid on the 21st of February 2014. Antonio Rodríguez Pedro Bernal is an experienced attorney in the criminal jurisdiction. He…
To read this article in Spanish, click here. In a previous post, we discussed the chance discovery of Antiquities within our legal system. We stated that both the discoverer and the owner had the right to a compensation equivalent to half the value that the legal evaluation should give to the item, which would then be…
To read this article in Spanish, click here. Property which belongs to the Spanish Historical Heritage (Patrimonio Histórico Español o PHE) can not circulate freely around the world, even within the European Union, despite the existence of a single market and freedom of movement of people, goods and capital. The export of the goods, in the…
Transactions on works of art of great value, though lucrative, are often a source of concern for all parties involved, who may not be sure if their efforts will come to fruition. In response to certain irregularities in these operations, a legal figure has appeared at the international level whose presence is increasingly desired in…
As one of the few Spanish law offices that specialises in Art Law, we can confirm that the intervention in the complex world of Works of Art and Cultural Goods necessarily requires expert advice. In this field of expertise, several areas of practice are involved: Criminal Law (smuggling, crimes against Historical Heritage and crimes against…
The record achieved on November the 13th by a work of Francis Bacon, Three Studies of Lucian Freud (1969), in an auction held at Christie’s, New York, has caused widespread astonishment, featuring on the front pages of newspapers, and, above all, it has revealed to the public just how juicy the art business has become…
