Criminal Law Protection of Cultural Heritage

The article examines the legal changes of 2013 and 2014 regarding the legislation in the sphere of cultural heritage protection and terms that are connected to it. Besides, it studies corresponding recent additions to the criminal law novels, determined by other legal changes. The work focuses on theoretical problems in the interrelation of such concepts as object of cultural heritage, object of archaeological heritage, archaeological item, items of the material world that are historically connected to them used in the Federal law of 22.10.2014. 315-FZ On the Cultural Heritage of the Russian Federation; as well as practical problems in the sphere of protection of culture heritage of criminal law that arise from the interrelation. The work focuses on the contradiction between two characteristics: immobility as the main criterion of the object of cultural heritage and mobility as an essential attribute of some of its parts. The article analyses some cases where the status of a movable object is transferred from the component of a cultural heritage object to a separate museum object. Procedures of this transformation and the corresponding changes in criminal law protection of these objects are examined. In this light, the work examines the problems of the interrelation between objects that are protected by various legal norms of criminal law and the sanctions that are listed within these norms. The concept of other objects from art. 3 of the Federal law On Cultural Heritage of the Russian Federation is analyzed, as well as existing examples of objects that are protected by the subject of cultural heritage. Based on the legislative definition of cultural heritage the key features of this concept are highlighted. The article analyzes legislation, makes references to the by-laws, and, as a result, confirms the hypothesis about the problems of legislation.