Procedure and evidence

The module shows how to conduct an expert appraisal: choosing the expert, drafting the mission, non-destructive or destructive analyses, adversarial debate, discussion of the report. It addresses the value of certificates, catalogues raisonnés and databases as evidence.

A workshop simulates the appointment of an expert for a contested painting, with the questions to ask and the pitfalls to avoid.

Urgency is frequent: a work is about to be sold or moved. Magistrates see how to order a ban on sale, sequestration, deposit with a trusted third party or a protective seizure, and how to organise the custody and conservation of a seized work.

Visits to specialised storage facilities show the conditions of good conservation.

Art cases are often cross-border. The module explains the request for judicial assistance, obtaining evidence abroad, cooperation with INTERPOL and customs, and recognition of foreign decisions. One chapter covers cooperation with the arbitral tribunal.

Participants practise drafting a letter of request and anticipating obstacles.

Handling stolen goods, smuggling, money laundering and destruction of heritage are addressed from the angle of evidence and legal characterisation. Magistrates see how to link criminal procedure and civil restitution, protect the victim and ensure seizure of the property.

A simulation covers a criminal hearing for trafficking in archaeological objects.

One chapter presents the relations between the state judge and the arbitral tribunal: jurisdiction, interim measures, actions to set aside, exequatur. It helps magistrates handle arbitration-related applications accurately.

The programme also shows how the courts can draw on the tribunal's database of decisions as a source of comparison.

The Academy's reception service answers practical questions Monday to Friday, in French, English and Spanish, and can direct each visitor to the programme, scholarship or free resource that fits their situation. A guidance counsellor also offers a thirty-minute individual meeting, by appointment, to build a realistic training pathway.

Trainees' feedback is valuable: each session gives rise to a questionnaire, and the most useful suggestions are examined each quarter by the teaching committee. Do not hesitate to write to report a difficulty, propose a subject or tell us what the training has changed in your practice.