ABSTRACT
In the Natural History Museum of Geneva, the city which hosts the World Trade Organization (WTO), there is a living turtle that has two heads. The name of this attraction is Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions in Roman mythology. Janus the god is depicted as a two-faced divinity who looks to both the future and the past. 1
China ratifi ed the UNESCO Convention on the diversity of cultural expressions of 2005 (“UNESCO Convention”) a year after its adoption. 2 Then Culture Minister Sun Jiazheng stated that ratifi cation would allow China to protect its cultures and promote the development of a cultural industry that would help reverse an imbalance in trade of cultural goods and services. 3
Pursuant to Article 3, the UNESCO Convention “shall apply to the policies and measures adopted by the Parties related to the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions.” 4 The scope of this treaty must be construed in combination with Articles 1 and 2, which defi ne its objectives and guiding principles. Article 4 paragraph 3 provides a defi nition of “cultural expressions” that are “those expressions that result from the creativity of individuals, groups and societies, and that have cultural content.” 5 Pursuant to paragraph 2
* Ph.D. (University of Berne), DEA Master in Law (University of Geneva), pro bono lecturer at the Université populaire de Genève (international law and relations, European law); formerly visiting scholar at the Law Schools of the University of Oxford and Birkbeck College, University of London (2011), Max Weber Fellow, European University Institute, and FNS/Marie Curie visiting post doctoral fellow at the Universities of Yale and Cambridge; attorney at law in Geneva. Contact: www.germann-avocats.com
1 For pictures of Janus the turtle, see www.odditycentral.com/pics/janus-the-two-headed-turtle.html (last visited July 16, 2016).
