International Committee “Blue Sheet” in the culture protection system

The aim of the article is to present the functioning of the International Committee on the Blue Shield in the system of protection of cultural property in the conditions of war and natural disasters. The author has analyzed the problem through the prism of the international legal status of protection of cultural goods and the practical activities of the International Committee of the Blue Shield in the world and in Poland. The protection of cultural property in the context of military threats and natural disasters is an important element of the state’s cultural policy and of the international community’s activities carried out under international law. In spite of over one hundred years of improvement of the law of cultural heritage protection, numerous cultural objects have been destroyed. The ineffectiveness of state protection has contributed to the protection of international NGOs. One of them is the International Board of the Blue Shield, which brings together national committees dedicated to the preparation of the protection of cultural property during conflicts and natural disasters. Non-governmental organizations provide greater opportunities for the protection of cultural goods in a variety of threats.

Implementation of the equality principle with regard to access to goods of national culture

The purpose of this text is to prove that Art. 6 sec. 1 is a provision indicating a specific area in which the principle of equality expressed in art. 32 and 33 of the Polish Constitution. To prove this, it is explained how equality relates to the range of entities entitled to disseminate and make available to them national cultural goods. It has also been proved that the reference of equality to the dissemination and sharing of national cultural goods requires the application of a compensatory privilege resulting from factual, not only legal, premises. On the occasion of such extensive research, it was also shown that Art. 6 sec. 1 is also a concretization of Art. 5 in fine and that it contains a subjective right.