The International Cultural Property Society (the “Society”) and the Art-Law Centre of the University of Geneva (the “Centre”) have established an annual fellowship, in honour of Professors Pierre Lalive and John Henry Merryman, aimed at the promotion and development of emerging scholars in the field of international cultural heritage law and related fields such as art law and museum law.

Pierre Lalive (1923-2014) was a Professor of law at the University of Geneva and founding partner of Lalive in Geneva (“Lalive”). He was a leading art law scholar particularly in private international law and was instrumental in the drafting of the 1995 UNDROIT Convention on the Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects.

John Henry Merryman (1920-2015), Nelson Bowman Sweitzer and Marie B. Sweitzer Professor of Law, Emeritus at Stanford Law School, was a leading art law scholar particularly in comparative law. He founded the International Cultural Property Society in 1988, which publishes the International Journal of Cultural Property (Cambridge University Press), and was co-author of Law, Ethics and the Visual Arts (with Albert E. Elsen).

The Pierre Lalive and John Henry Merryman Fellowship in Art and Cultural Heritage Law will be awarded to a scholar for the best article published in the International Journal of Cultural Property (the “Journal”) in the preceding calendar year. To be eligible, the author must have been under 40 years of age at the time of the article’s publication.

The recipient will be selected by a three member jury, including a representative from the Journal’s Editorial Board nominated by the Journal’s Editor, a representative of the Society’s Board nominated by the Society’s President, and an established scholar (agreed upon by the other members of the jury). The jury shall nominate the individual to receive the fellowship (and a first alternate in the event the nominee is unable or unwilling to accept the fellowship) and inform the Society and the Centre by the last week in March at the latest. The recommendation, which presumptively is final, will be confirmed by the Society’s board and the Centre’s board no later than the second week of April, to enable the announcement of the Fellowship recipient in the first issue of the Journal of that year.

The Pierre Lalive and John Henry Merryman Fellow will be hosted by the Centre for a period of no less than two, and no more than four, weeks. The period of the visit shall be at a time mutually convenient to the Centre and the Fellow during a twelve (12) month period running from 1 May in the year of the award’s announcement. During the visit, the Fellow will be expected to work on publishable research and engage in the activities of the Centre. The Fellow will be provided with office and library facilities.

The Pierre Lalive and John Henry Merryman Fellowship in Art and Cultural Heritage Law is co-sponsored in equal part by the Society and LALIVE for a total annual amount of CHF 6,000. The Fellowship will initially be awarded annually for a five-year period running from 2018-2022.

The “Pierre Lalive and John Henry Merryman Fellowship” is meant to cover the Fellow’s travel, accommodation, and living expenses. Distribution of the Fellowship monies to the successful recipient will be administered by the Centre.