Biography of the Secretary-General

The Secretary-General holds a doctorate in international law, devoted to the circulation of cultural property and the interplay between the 1970 and 1995 conventions. This training gives him direct knowledge of the texts the Organization applies.

He supplemented this with studies in heritage law and public management, and he maintains an occasional teaching activity within the OIMAP Academy.

Before his election, he headed the heritage department of a founding State of the Organization. There he led the modernization of national inventories and the establishment of cooperation procedures with customs and museums.

This experience as an administrator explains the attention he gives to implementation: a rule is only worth something if the officials who apply it have the necessary tools.

He was elected Secretary-General by the General Assembly for a four-year term, renewable once. He leads a Secretariat split between the Paris headquarters and the offices in Geneva, New York, Singapore and Nairobi.

He chairs the Secretariat's management committee, represents the Organization before States and partners and reports to the Executive Council. His term is evaluated every year.

The Secretary-General advocates an approach based on cooperation rather than constraint. He considers that market confidence depends on the transparency of procedures, and that good-faith restitution serves all parties.

He has also worked for access by developing States to the Organization's tools, notably the training of customs officers and curators.

He is the author of doctrinal articles on the protection of cultural property and on market regulation. His addresses, presented in the speeches section, are regularly taken up by the specialist press.

Detailed bibliographic references are provided by the General Secretariat on request.