What are violations misrepresenting or destroying cultural heritage of Vietnam?

Specifically, according to Article 4 of Decree No. 98/2010/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, violations misrepresenting or destroying cultural heritage are prescribed as follows:

- Acts of misrepresenting relics:

+ Changing the original constituents of a relic such as adding to, removing or changing exhibits of a relic, or embellishing or restoring a relic at variance with its original constituents and other acts without permission of state agencies competent in culture, sports and tourism, incorrectly disseminating or introducing the contents and values of a relic;

+ Changing the environment and landscape of a relic, such as tree felling, rock destruction, digging, illegal construction and other acts adversely affecting a relic.

- Acts of threatening to destroy or reducing the values of intangible cultural heritage:

+ Incorrectly disseminating or practicing the contents of intangible cultural heritage;

+ Groundlessly adding inappropriate new elements to intangible cultural heritage, reducing its value;

+ Making use of the propagation, dissemination and performance of and training in intangible cultural heritage for self-seeking purposes or committing other unlawful acts.

- The following acts are regarded as illegally digging archaeological sites:

+ Digging without permission to search for vestiges, antiques or national precious objects in relic protection zones or sites under archaeological planning such as relics of residence, tombs, tool making workshops, citadels and other archaeological sites;

+ Searching and salvaging without permission underwater vestiges, antiques or national precious objects.

View more details at Decree No. 98/2010/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, effective from November 06, 2010.

Nguyen Phu

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