Who has the right of adjudication in the identification of cultural relics?

 Legal responsibility is difficult to define

12:33:14 Sept.27, 2014,  Reporter: Hongling Fu   Source: People Daily

Who has the right to decide in the identification of cultural relics is a hot issue in the current art market. In discussion, the concept of cultural relic seems to be not very accurate.

Generally speaking, the identification of cultural relics is more than three researchers from duties and entrusted make an overall study, detection, analysis for the authenticity, value, age and name on relics with professional knowledge and the help of instruments.

Strictly, the identification of cultural relics has the following characteristics: First of all, it is a subjective cognition subjected to the identification of human’s cognitive ability and moral quality, sometimes limited by objective conditions. Secondly, it is a kind of collective behavior, not an appraisal conclusion of a single person. Thirdly, it is a conclusion of appraisal conclusion, similar to the adoption process of the civil procedure law and administrative procedure law, criminal procedure law. Furthermore, It is a scientific demonstration without any significant difference in the administrative level and area. In addition, scientific instrument detection is a means of identification, rather than an independent appraisal way.

The content of the value is the core of the cultural relic appraisal, mainly including four aspects: historical value, scientific value, artistic value and economic value. The former three are invisible without any direct performance. On the contrary, economic value is the concentrated reflection of the former three, but sometimes may not be unified. The cultural relics appraisal has two types: public identification and appraisal of folk. The public appraisal refers to the behavior of identification organized by the administrative department of culture relics of the state. Folk appraisal refers to all the rest kinds of appraisal behavior except for the public appraisal. At present, the cultural relics may occur in public and public, public and folk, people and people and basically focus on the authenticity of identification, a few on the identification of price. There are lots of reasons for the different appraisal conclusions on a same cultural relics.

About the cultural relics appraisal law is currently incomplete, such as the cultural relics protection law of the People’s Republic of China, Auction law of the People’s Republic of China. Some terms about identification are only odds and ends. No legal provisions for civil identification. In the practice of law, mostly operational is not strong. To the cultural relics appraisal regulations is even more so.

At present, the identification of cultural relics in dispute, both parties can select consultation, administrative mediation and civil litigation to solve. Who have the right to decide the cultural relic appraisal? From the cultural relics appraisal scope, it is decided by the administrative department of relics identification within the public appraisal. Within civil identification, it is relatively more difficult and largely related with trades and decided by both parties.