New book shows that no legal argument supports the refusal to repatriate the Parthenon Marbles

In 'The Parthenon Marbles and International Law,' published today 25 May 2023 by Springer, international legal scholar Catharine Titi moves beyond the ethical and cultural merits of repatriation to consider the legal arguments that favour the marbles’ return.

The author casts fresh light on the facts of the case and argues that the removal of the marbles was unlawful according to the law at the time. This was readily admitted in 1811 by Robert Adair, former British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and by Elgin himself in a letter to Spencer Perceval, the prime minister.

The author argues that property title to the marbles never passed and that the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice further supports the repatriation claim: in international law, parts of public monuments belong to the sovereign territory in perpetuity.

While showing that the legal argument favours the marbles’ repatriation, the author stresses the value of negotiations as the best way forward. She hopes that this book will serve to inform debates on the repatriation of cultural heritage and provide arguments both to Greek negotiators and the British intellectuals and politicians who have spoken out in favour of returning the marbles to Athens.

The Parthenon Marbles and International Law, written by Catharine Titi, with a Foreword by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, Springer 2023

More on the new book on the publisher’s website.

Also availabe on Amazon.

“This is a book that must be read with attention by all parties to this debate; and it is my hope and belief that it will accelerate the process by which an art-loving and philhellenic Britain finds a consensual way to return to its ancient ally a collection of broken and decontextualised fragments which illuminate a moment two and a half millennia ago when the city that pioneered democracy created a monument of transcendent beauty which embodied the values that inspire us still.” (Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, Emeritus Professor and Director of Research, Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge)

“Catharine Titi, a brilliant Greek academic lawyer based in Paris, has written a superb, entirely fresh account of the seemingly interminable ‘Elgin Marbles’ controversy. Cutting through the swathes of ideological obfuscation, she patiently and incontrovertibly demonstrates just how shaky in international law is the UK’s case not alone for retention but even for the original possession let alone ownership of the Sculptures held in the British Museum.” (Paul Cartledge, AG Leventis Professor of Greek Culture emeritus, University of Cambridge)

Andrew Wallace-Hadrrill is a members of BCRPM, and Paul Cartledge is Vice-Chair of BCRPM.