ABSTRACT
The premise of the North Carolina Supreme Court’s findings, by which the replevin was successfully completed, was that King George III “would not have knowingly permitted the abandonment of official records.” The controversy unleashed by North Carolina v. B.C. West could result in a terrible legacy. The State of North Carolina began a replevin proceeding for the documents, an action which was sustained by the Supreme Court of North Carolina. The great interest in historical documents, spurred on by the movement for conservation of archives and manuscripts, may well cause some overzealous facilities to begin questionable replevin proceeding. The stringent policy of the UNESCO statute on archives may offer some guidance: Any person or private body, not being a dealer, who has in his possession documents more than 40 years old must notify the director of the national or local archives.
