The role of the Kurdistan Regional council in the preserving archaeology according to law no.55 of 2002

Abstract

Defining the components of cultural heritage as (movable and immovable property) means that this concept is limited to tangible objects only. But you ask, what is the extent of this concept, is it absolute to include all material things, or has the legislator defined it in specific areas? He noted that national laws revolve around two basic directions in this regard, namely: the flexible approach, which originally uses general terms based on the element of importance or seniority, which allow describing these assets, without the need to specify the scope of these organisms, that this method allows broadening the scope of Heritage to include elements of natural heritage also according to aesthetic, scientific and touristic expressions. The second approach is very narrow due to the use of specific terms that limit its scope. These terms deal with some human activities, especially those related to construction, production, and writing ... As for the Iraqi legislature, it has also adopted the narrow approach in the antiquities laws of 1924 and 1936, and the restriction of the scope of effects on human activity only, which is represented by matters related to construction and drafting. And inscriptions and monuments, a trend that was characterized by shortcomings and contradicts archeology itself, as this science does not only study human output, but rather aims to study everything related to the past time. . Security, antiquities and civilization are carried to protection at the international level. There are many treaties from different countries to protect the antiquities of their own civilizations, but with great regret, Kurdistan is currently considered a region and not a state to participate in these treaties. Despite this, we have to search for alternatives by communicating with international organizations to protect the remaining traces of Kurdish civilization. But in the Antiquities and Heritage Law No. 55 of 2002, the legislator tried to expand this framework by adding additional sentences to the definition of antiquities, and this was done by adding two other fields besides the effects of human activity. The first area includes human skeletons. The second field includes the structures or remains of animals and plants because the study of human heritage is not complete without knowing the way people lived in those ages and what are the plant and animal organisms that he used to deal with. It should be noted that this field is considered, in the first place, as an element of the natural heritage, but it is limited to the past.