Tutti per uno, uno per tutti: Getty c. Italia nella prospettiva dell’accesso al patrimonio culturale

This paper analyses the case of Getty c. Italia, focusing on the European Court of Human Rights’(ECtHR) judgment concerning the Victorious Youth bronze. Italy has sought the statue’s return since the 1960s, leading to a confiscation order challenged by the Getty Trust. The ECtHR upheld the confiscation, finding no violation of Getty’s property rights, citing Italy’s legitimate interest in cultural heritage protection and Getty’s lack of diligence. A significant point examined is Getty’s argument that keeping the statue in Malibu ensured broad public access, which the Court acknowledged but did not fully incorporate into its proportionality assessment. Drawing from this, the study explores the emergence of a right to access and enjoy cultural heritage, first highlighted in a 2011 UN report, emphasising its individual and collective nature. This right encompasses socio-economic, informational, managerial, and physical dimensions and requires solving the tension between cultural internationalism, promoting universal access, and cultural nationalism, prioritising the country of origin. It also touches on balancing public access with long-term conservation. While the access argument was not decisive for the ECtHR, the paper suggests that the principle of facilitating wide public access implicitly guides measures for cultural property recovery.