The real concern is that this gives yet more license to the Cultural Heritage Center and its �Cultural Antiquities Task Force� to repatriate artifacts based on unclear and obscure laws of ancient vintage, even where they have only recently been �dug up� so to speak as long as there is some alleged tie-in to a known site.
The subsidiary concern is that the Sotheby�s Court, like the T-Rex Bataar Court, is treating the obligation of a foreign country to actually enforce its laws at home not as an element of the claim up front, but to be raised as a defense to forfeiture after a long slog to trial�something most forfeiture claimants simply can�t afford.
Here is the ruling courtesy of the Chasing Aphrodite blog.
Will Sotheby's cave or fight on? Stay tuned.