After a long period of debates, the Republic of Moldova finally has a special law for the protection of its archaeological heritage (see text of the law elsewhere in this issue). The first draft of the law was adopted by a group of archaeologists in 2005 and was discussed for five years in various circles: civil, academic, and even political. In 2009 the National Association of Young Historians from Moldova took the initiative to update and promote the draft law project by involving its initial authors and other domestic and foreign archaeologists. It then proposed to the Ministry of Culture an updated version in line with the contemporary requirements. This project was given important feedback from colleagues in the United States, Germany, Romania, and other countries.

The Law on Archaeological Heritage Preservation was adopted by a unanimous vote, including the communist faction, by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova on 17 September 2010 and enacted by presidential decree on 24 November 2011.Footnote ¹ The law entered into force three months after its publication in the Official Gazette (Monitorul Oficial) on 3 December 2010.Footnote ² Therefore, starting on 3 March 2011, the Republic of Moldova has had a new preservation system for its archaeological heritage.

The law contains 48 articles grouped into 11 chapters. In articles 1 and 2 from chapter I, General Provisions, the objectives of the document are stated and a series of notions are described, such as archaeological heritage, general juridical regime of archaeological discoveries and research, archaeological survey, preventive archaeology, archaeological excavations and oversight, systematic archaeological research, rescue archaeology, archaeological expertise, archaeological discovery, occasional archaeological discoveries, archaeological treasure/hoards, areas with archaeological potential, areas with known and investigated archaeological heritage, areas with accidentally highlighted archaeological heritage, archaeological sites declared areas of national interest, zones with archaeological heritage remains, archaeological heritage protection zone, database of archaeological sites, institution of archaeological records, sponsor of archaeological research, professional archaeologist, and authorization for archaeological research. It appears to be a very technical chapter, but it is a very important one as it defines the array of notions characteristic to the field used further in the law and which had previously been interpreted in different ways by legislators and by the public institutions. In this context we would like to give an example: article 2(s) clearly establishes the protection area of the archaeological sites as being an area with a special protection regime, around the archaeological site with a width varying between 50 to 200 m, depending on the type and importance of the objective. Also, archaeological heritage discovered accidentally (p. 8, art. 5) is delimited on a radius of 50 m, with a temporary protection regime over all the archaeological goods, which cannot exceed 12 months, with a research purpose and the establishment of a future protection regime (p. 9, art. 5).

The second chapter (art. 3–11) is devoted to the system and mechanisms of archaeological heritage preservation: State, Parliament, Government, Ministry of Culture, National Archaeological Agency, Local Public Administrations, Academy of Science of Moldova, Central Public Authorities, Physical and Juridical persons, among others. A novelty of the law is structural in nature and refers to the establishment of the National Archaeological Agency (NAA) under the Ministry of Culture as a public specialized institution on policies for the protection and valorization of archaeological heritage. When the law entered into force, the NAA became the key body in the protection of archaeological heritage. The law provides that all the building or other projects that presume interventions in the soil of areas with archaeological heritage should be approved by the Ministry of Culture based on the NAA's expertise (p. 7, art. 5). The law obliges each person who discovers archaeological materials accidentally or the administrator of the terrain where the discovery was made to announce the fact to the local public administration within 48 hours and to transmit the discovered archaeological goods. Also, the local public authority is obliged to ensure the protection of the discovery and to inform the Ministry of Culture officially, within 24 hours (p. 2, art. 4). In what concerns the juridical regime of the discovered treasures, the law obliges the discoverer to transmit it to the possession of the state within 72 hours from the moment of discovery (art. 11) with the right to receive a recompense provided by the Civil Code of the Republic of Moldova.

The same chapter establishes the mechanisms for the protection of the archaeological heritage, which include the procedure of completing archaeological work in the area with archaeological heritage and its further use only after the issue of the certificate of completion of archaeological work from the Ministry of Culture based on the proposal of the NAA. The law establishes the need to elaborate and receive approval by the Ministry of Culture of all norms, standards, and archaeological procedures that will be the basis of the activity of the institutions of the archaeological profile. Another innovation of the law is the notion of “archaeological cadastre” as part of the cadastre of all immovable goods of the Republic of Moldova, aiming at the creation of a state recording system of archaeological sites and areas with archaeological heritage (art. 7). Another field, of particular relevance for market economies, is the right of ownership of the archaeological heritage. The legislation of the Republic of Moldova establishes, as in many other European countries, the supreme right of the state over the archaeological heritage, regardless of the form of ownership of the terrain in which it was recovered or where it is located (p. 1, art. 8). Also, the law stipulates the right to dispose of terrain with immovable archaeological heritage in private property by the owner of the terrain under the strict respect of the present law (p. 7, art. 8). Terrain with archaeological heritage in public property cannot be alienated but can be given over to use. In the case of terrain with archaeological heritage in private ownership, it can be sold with prior notice to the Ministry of Culture, as the state has priority right in the sale-purchase process, and the buyer has to be informed of the responsibilities to protect the archaeological heritage (art. 9).

At the end of article 8 the law highlights another aspect, equally important, of the state recording the entire movable and immovable archaeological heritage. This provision is developed in article 12(r), which obliges the Ministry of Culture to record and monitor the private collections of archaeological goods. We hope that these legal provisions will be the basis of the elaboration of a viable mechanism for combating illegal archaeology and illicit trafficking of antiquities.

The law provides for a series of obligations for the executors of archaeological work, such as respecting the 12-month research term in the case of accidental discoveries (p. 9, art. 5) and respecting archaeological norms, standards, and procedures. Although the law stipulates that the restoration of the terrain to its initial condition is a financial responsibility of the sponsor of the archaeological research (p. 3, art. 10), that does not mean that archaeologists are freed from the obligation to put the investigated terrain in order.

Chapter III is dedicated to the responsibilities of the local and central public administration and working instruments in the field of archaeological heritage preservation. The responsibilities of the Ministry of Culture, National Archaeological Commission, and NAA to archaeological heritage preservation are specified in detail, and the contents of some important documents form this management field: the National Archaeological Repertoire, National Archaeological Register, and the Register of Archaeologists of the Republic of Moldova. The Ministry of Culture is directly responsible through its subordinate institutions and bodies for the protection of the archaeological heritage, starting with the elaboration of the policies, strategies, and national programs and ending with the coordination of yearly programs, issue of authorizations for archaeological excavations, and the like (art. 12). The National Archaeological Commission is a consultative body of the Ministry of Culture that represents the scientific authority in this field and aims at the elaboration of recommendations, expertise, notices, and so forth, and the attestation of specialists for inclusion in the registry of archaeologists (art. 13). The NAA is a public autonomous institution with the status of a juridical person and a separate budget, subordinated to the Ministry of Culture, that aims at the realization of state policy in the field of the protection and valorization of the archaeological heritage. Actually, the NAA is the executive body of national policies in the field of archaeology. (art. 14). The National Archaeological Repertoire comprises the list of all archaeological sites known on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, including those which have been destroyed or have disappeared, while the National Archaeological Register comprises the list of all existing archaeological sites of national and international importance, included in the register of monuments of the Republic of Moldova protected by the state. At the end of chapter III the law defines the components of the Register of Archaeologists of the Republic of Moldova, which consists of three categories of archaeologists—professional, specialist, and debutant—attested by the National Archaeological Commission.

In chapter IV, the attributes of the local public administration (LPA), in the field of archaeological heritage preservation, are presented. Details are established regarding the cooperation of the LPA with public institutions and bodies with responsibilities in the field of the protection of the archaeological heritage, with physical and juridical persons, and the funding of archaeological research leading to completion in terrain where public works are carried out and for which they are the main commissioners. The mayor, as the main representative of the LPA, is obliged to issue the suspension of building authorization and cessation of any work if archaeological remains are discovered and to announce within 48 hours to the authorized institutions of the Ministry of Culture about the discovery. (art. 19).

Chapter V encourages the cooperation of the state bodies with NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) and nonprofit foundations. In the four articles of this chapter, a series of provisions are established for the Parliament, government, Ministry of Culture, and civil associations encouraging, supporting, and participating in the processes of elaboration and implementation of the policies for the protection and valorization of the archaeological heritage of the Republic of Moldova. With these provisions, the law tries to encourage the active involvement of civil society with heritage preservation.

Chapter VI gives details of the priority interests of sustainable development of archaeological areas, financial support for archaeological research, conservation, restoration, and so forth. The law obliges the local public authorities of the territories where there are areas of priority archaeological interest to take administrative and technical measures for their protection and valorization, for the elaboration of urban development documentation, and for the organization of their special protection (art. 24–26).

Chapter VII describes the principles, norms, and mechanisms of the research, conservation, and restoration of the archaeological heritage. The law establishes the obligations of the responsible institutions for the protection of the archaeological heritage to inspect and systematically monitor the condition of the archaeological heritage (art. 32). The law obliges the protection institutions to coordinate projects impacting underground and underwater with the NAA for the identification of the presence or absence of archaeological remains and to provide, on a case-by-case basis, for the financial means for the safeguard of the archaeological remains at risk of destruction (p. 2, art. 29).

Chapter VIII establishes the rules and legal regime for the temporary export and import of archaeological goods. Article 36 forbids the definitive export of archaeological remains. The customs authorities should be alert to the tentative smuggling of archaeological goods, and law enforcement institutions should thoroughly check the activity of antiquities shops and the trade in antiquities. The law allows the temporary export of movable archaeological goods for restoration, archaeological expertise, and establishment of good relations between the cultural and historical institutions of various countries (p. 2, art. 36). In return, the state takes responsibility to protect the archaeological goods that are temporarily imported into the territory of the Republic of Moldova (art. 38).

Chapter IX is devoted to financial issues. The chapter establishes the funding modalities of the activity of archaeological heritage preservation and lists state funding, funding from physical and juridical persons, funding from the revenues and donations of organizations that promote the protection of archaeological heritage, and funding from other legal sources. In the case of building projects that affect underground or underwater, the organization that initiates the project is in charge of funding the research (art. 40). The law allows the booking and the rental of archaeological sites, and the payment resulting from the contract goes to a special bank account of the NAA, which will be used for the protection, conservation, and restoration of archaeological sites (art. 43). The law returns to an old idea of the creation of a fund for extraordinary intervention for the salvation of archaeological sites, the amount being established biannually by the government from the state budget at the proposal of the Ministry of Culture (art. 44). The legislative act urges the LPAs to provide in their yearly budgets the necessary sums to fund or cofund the work of recording, researching, valorizing, safeguarding, protecting, and restoring the archaeological sites situated on their administrative territories (art. 45). Although there is no clear mechanism, the law stipulates that the state will give facilities to physical and juridical persons that produce or buy at home or abroad raw materials and equipment necessary for the recording, researching, valorizing, safeguarding, protecting, conserving, and restoring of archaeological sites (art. 46).

Chapter X accounts the situations of contraventions in the field of archaeological heritage that should be penalized according to the Civil, Contravention, and Criminal Codes of the Republic of Moldova. Considering that this law is organic, it provides only for a list of situations when the physical or juridical persons are prosecuted and have civil, contravention, and penal responsibility. It is for this reason that the law raised criticisms among the specialists. The Ministry of Culture has the obligation, along with other state institutions, to make proposals to the Parliament to modify the Contravention Code, the Civil Code, and the Criminal Code, which should specify the measure for each punishment presented at p. 1, art. 47 from the Law on Archaeological Heritage Preservation. In any event, the present law stipulates a few situations that were lacking previously from the Moldavan legislation, such as prohibition of unauthorized metal detectors and other teledetection equipment and their use in the areas with archaeological heritage, trade and unauthorized possession of metal detectors and other teledetection equipment, and failure to present to the authorized bodies new building projects that can affect the archaeological heritage.

The last chapter, chapter XI, contains the final dispositions addressed to the government and Ministry of Culture, which should, within three months of the entrance into force of this law, found the NAA and write a list of norms in the field. Also, it establishes the terms of entrance into force of this law—three months after publication in the Monitorul Oficial al Republicii Moldova (Official Gazette of the Republic of Moldova). Also, the Ministry of Culture is required within three months from the entrance into force of the law to present to the government for approval the regulation regarding the organization and activity of the NAA and to approve a series of normative acts: regulation of the organization and activity of the National Archaeological Commission; regulation of archaeological research and expertise; regulation of the National Archaeological Repertoire; regulation regarding the National Archaeological Register; regulation of the Archaeological Cadastre; and regulation regarding the recording and classification of the archaeological heritage; regulation of Register of Archaeologists of the Republic of Moldova, the Register of Archaeologists of the Republic of Moldova, deontological code of archaeologists of the Republic of Moldova, and creation of the National Archaeological Commission (art. 48).

In the end, the provisions of the law on Archaeological Heritage Preservation announce an optimistic perspective. For this law to be successful, both the academic community and the civil society have to engage in carefully monitoring the process of its implementation and insist on the elaboration of a viable and sustainable mechanism for the state institutions involved in archaeological preservation to meet their responsibilities. The law is very important and was expected for a very long time to be abandoned, as had happened to the law on the protection of monuments from 1993, a time in which many archaeological sites were destroyed. The chaos in this field has to be stopped by bringing the preservation into the protection of the law and encouraging a respectful attitude toward the historical past by the citizenry.

With this law the Republic of Moldova aligns itself with the European countries and honors its commitments taken with the signature of many conventions of the Council of Europe and UNESCO in the field of cultural heritage protection.Footnote ³ Moreover, the adoption and implementation of this law can be regarded as an incentive for other fields that lack proper legislation, even though many commitments have been made in front of the international community.