In the Faro convention which was adopted by the Council of Europe in October 2005, the participation in the research of the Cultural Heritage is regarded as a civil right. In particular Article 4a clearly sets out that every person has the right to contribute to the cultural heritage. Furthermore, the signatories of the convention undertake to create a legal framework that allows that.
Unlike Germany, Austria has ratified the Faro convention already. However, the current Austrian Monument Protection Law does not cover any civil participation. Thus it sensible to check whether the current German Monument Protection Laws and their interpretation are compatible with the Faro convention. In this talk, two Monument Protection Laws are taken as an example. In doing so, not only the rights and obligations of citizens and archaeologists will be investigated, but also the "necessary restrictions" mentioned in Article 4c of the Faro convention.