A tribute to the late Professor Folarin Olawale Shyllon, who fought for over 50 years against illicit trafficking of cultural property.
“Professor Folarin Olawale Shyllon’s lifelong commitment to the protection of cultural property was matched only by his humility and generosity. His writings will continue to inspire present and future generations”, declared Ernesto Ottone R., UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture. “With his passing, UNESCO has lost a longtime friend and an outstanding intellectual and Professor of Law who enthusiastically supported the ideals of UNESCO, the UNESCO 1970 Convention and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention” he added.
“Professor Shyllon had unparalleled energy and enthusiasm. His dedication to the protection of cultural heritage will remain as an example, and his legacy shall be remembered for decades to come”, declared Professor Ignacio Tirado, Secretary General of UNIDROIT. “We owe him a debt of gratitude,” he added.
In 1974 and 1977 respectively, Folarin Olawale Shyllon established his intellectual credentials with his twin tomes on Black Slaves in Britain and Black People in Britain, 1555-1833, both published by Oxford University Press. As the founding Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan (Nigeria), he approached the task of building the faculty with quiet skill and method. He worked tirelessly as the head of the Committee on the Advancement of the National Archives of Nigeria.
As a friend of UNESCO, Professor Shyllon contributed immensely to every stage of the life of the UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. In 2000, for the 30th Anniversary of the Convention, he presented the research paper “Illicit Traffic in Ethnological Material: Problems and Prospects”. He was also member of the Committee of Independent Experts on the Preparation of Model Rules defining State Ownership of Cultural Property for the Intergovernmental Return and Restitution Committee. In November 2020, he took part in the international conference “Cultural Heritage and Multilateralism Regional and International Strategies for the Protection of Cultural Heritage”, organized by UNESCO and Germany in the framework of the events marking the 50th anniversary of the 1970 Convention.
As a friend of UNIDROIT, Professor Shyllon has been instrumental in the implementation of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects and the UNIDROIT-UNESCO Model Provisions on State Ownership of Undiscovered Cultural Objects among African States in particular. In 2012, at the first meeting on the practical operation of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention, Professor Shyllon made a strong call for the engagement of African States in the paper “Why African States must embrace the 1995 Unidroit Convention”. He was also a speaker at the conference held in October 2020 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention entitled “The 1995 UNIDROIT Convention – Cultural objects at the crossroad of rights and interests” to underline the complementarity between the UNESCO and the UNIDROIT instruments.
The world has lost one of the founding figures of Heritage Law in Africa and an outstanding expert in the protection of cultural heritage whose enlightened works and tireless effort to protect culture will remain a reference for generations to come. He died on 17 January 2021 at the age of 80.
Professor Iacopo Donati is the UNIDROIT/Bank of Italy Chair Holder and is mainly responsible for assisting in the Bank Insolvency project. He is Professor of Corporate and Insolvency Law at the University of Siena, and coordinates the research project ‘Pro.Re.Ba.’ (Proportionating rules on bank crisis prevention and management to the case of retail banks), which has received funding from the Italian Ministry of University. He has previously taught corporate law at the University of Venice ‘Ca’ Foscari’, at the University of Florence and at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’.
rtered Institute of Arbitrators (London). He further holds a post-graduate diploma in law from the Kenya School of Law. Allan is also a scholar from the Hague Academy of International Law.
rofessor Ignacio Tirado was appointed Secretary-General by the Governing Council at its 97th session, and officially took office on 27 August 2018. A national of Spain, Professor Tirado (Commercial, Corporate and Insolvency Law, Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, Spain) holds a PhD from the Universities of Bologna and Autónoma de Madrid and an LLM from the University of London. Professor Tirado has been a Senior Legal Consultant at the World Bank’s Legal Vice-Presidency and Financial Sector Practice for more than nine years, having also consulted for the IMF on insolvency related matters as well as for the Asian Development Bank on commercial legal reform.
A Swedish national, Ms Lena Peters grew up in Italy where she attended an English school. In 1978 she took her Juris Kandidatexamen at Stockholm University followed by a Master of Laws from King’s College, London (1979). Since 1985 she has been with UNIDROIT, first as Research Officer, lastly as Principal Legal Officer, her main duties being Secretary to the Working Group for the Preparation of Principles of International Commercial Contracts, Secretary to the Study Group on Franchising, Secretary to the Committee of Governmental Experts on Franchising.She also collaborated on the project for the preparation of the ELI-Unidroit Model European Rules of Civil Procedure. She is currently Managing Editor of the Uniform Law Review and responsible for publications at UNIDROIT.
Marina Schneider is Principal Legal Officer and Treaty Depositary at UNIDROIT. She studied law at the University of Strasbourg (France) and Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne. She joined the UNIDROIT in 1987 and was involved in the elaboration and French versions of most UNIDROIT instruments since. She is in charge of the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects and of the UNESCO-UNIDROIT Model Provisions on State Ownership of Undiscovered Cultural Objects. She is the author of the Explanatory Report of the 1995 Convention and many articles on the Convention and other international instruments in the field. Ms Schneider is also responsible for the project on private collections and for the UNIDROIT Convention Academic Project (UCAP). She is member of the Board of the International Society for Research on Art and Cultural Heritage Law (ISCHAL).
Professor of Commercial Law, Carlos III University of Madrid. Currently, Sir Roy Goode Scholar at UNIDROIT, Rome, 2021-2022. Chair of Excellence 2017-2018 at University of Oxford (Uc3m- Santander Program), affiliated to Harris Manchester College. Previously Distinguished Visiting Professor and fellow of a number of Academic Institutions. Arbitrator of Madrid Court of Arbitration. Member of ELI (European Law Institute) Council and Executive Committee. Member of the Expert Group of the European Commission on Liability and New Technologies and member of the Expert Group of the European Observatory of Platform Economy; the International Academy of Commercial and Consumer Law; the expert group of the Inclusive Global Legal Innovation Platform for Online Dispute Resolution – UNCITRAL and Hong Kong Department of Justice. Expert of the UNIDROIT Study Group on the MAC Protocol of the Cape Town Convention on International Interests. Delegate of Spain to UNIDROIT for the adoption of the Protocol, delegate of Spain in Working Group VI of UNCITRAL on secured transactions and in Working Group IV on Electronic Commerce. Member of UNIDROIT Working Groups on Enforcement and Warehouse Receipts.
William Brydie-Watson is an Australian lawyer who specialises in secured transactions law and private international law. Before joining UNIDROIT, William was a government lawyer in the Private International Law and International Arbitration section of the Australian Attorney-General’s Department, where he worked primarily on treaty negotiation and the implementation of private international law treaties in Australia. At UNIDROIT, he is primarily responsible for the implementation of the Mining, Agriculture and Construction (MAC Protocol) to the 2001 Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and the development of a Model Law on Factoring. William also serves as UNIDROIT’s liaison with the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and as manager of the Institute’s Scholarship and Internship Programme. Admitted to practice in New South Wales and the High Court of Australia, he has a Bachelor of Arts (honours), a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Laws from the Australian National University. William also lectures on International Secured Transactions Law at the Eotvos Lorand Faculty of Law in Budapest.