ABSTRACT
The post-World War II era has witnessed some of the most fundamental challenges to our system of values and beliefs. That today there is a general proscription on the use of force in the settlement of disputes between states, or legal frameworks that would govern the right to invade and occupy another territory, or that the practice of slavery has been illegalized are a only few examples of how our thinking has changed. The rise of natural law jurisprudence has affirmed the necessity of ascertaining the moral content of law. Against this backdrop, laws and practices across different domains of life have evolved in a manner more consistent with a revised rights framework, which incorporates and accommodates this moral content of law. These changes, while far reaching, have, however, not been taken up in all aspects of life. Indeed, one area that has lagged behind considerably is that related to cultural property taken during European colonial expansion and occupation in the 16th to 19th centuries.
