The Second Protocol supplements several provisions of the 1954 Hague Convention on the protection and safeguarding of cultural property. It establishes a new regime of “immunity” for cultural property of outstanding importance for humanity, the regime of “enhanced protection”, provided that the cultural property is adequately protected by domestic law and not used for military purposes or to shield military sites. Enhanced protection shall be granted from the moment of inscription on the List of Cultural Property Under Enhanced Protection. This decision is taken by the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, an intergovernmental committee established under the new Protocol.
Another characteristic of the new Protocol is the increased effort to fight impunity through effective criminal prosecution of war criminals. Paragraph 1 of Article 15 describes the acts that constitute serious violations for which it establishes individual criminal responsibility. Paragraph 2 of the same article sets out the obligation of the Parties to adopt appropriate legislation to make these violations criminal offenses under domestic law, to provide appropriate penalties and to establish jurisdiction over these offenses, including universal jurisdiction for three of the five serious violations. The Second Protocol applies equally to international and non-international armed conflicts.
Law 3317/2005 (45/Α/23-02-2005) ratifies the Second Protocol of the Convention “for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict”, that was signed at The Hague on 26 March 1999.
