ABSTRACT
This chapter emphasizes the difficulties in investigating and prosecuting art crime from an international perspective. But the process should not be seen in a negative light. Anyone who wants to recover the proceeds of art crime can draw lessons on how to avoid the pitfalls. Certainly a successful prosecution or recovery will often be difficult. One must know what to do and anticipate the problems that can arise. But a successful action must be seen not only for its own value but as acting as a deterrent to other thefts and illicit traffic in general. That is why a badly prepared case, or a case where there is little likelihood of success so that an adverse decision is highly possible, can hurt the prospects for other claims. Commentators are able to refer to such adverse decisions to discredit the prospects of legitimate claims.
