Valletta - the Background

The Valetta Convention was originally signed at Valetta, in Malta, in January 1992. It is a Convention, not of the EU, but of the Council of Europe, a body that preceded the EU, but still exists to deal mainly with cultural affairs.
However for long the British Government for long refused to sign the Convention, mainly because of Article 3.

Article 3 reads:

This is a remarkable comprehensive statement, calling not only for the licensing of excavations, but also for the specific authorisation of excavators. It also bans not only metal detectors, but also all geophysical surveying equipment. Because of this, the British government has hitherto refrained from signing the convention.
However in March 2001, the government, without any warning, suddenly signed up to document with the full support of English Heritage which said it would ‘take the lead in championing the Convention’.

This is not yet law: it is, as English Heritage points out, only an ‘advocacy document’. There is therefore still time for a full debate on the principles enshrined in Article 3.

This website therefore has been set up to provide information about the Valetta Convention and its implications. There is the full Text of the Convention, and of the ‘Explanatory Report’ that was published with it. There is also the text of the English Heritage Press Release setting out the official English Heritage position.
At the same time the Council for Independent Archaeology has taken the lead in debating the Convention and its implications, and has published an Open Letter to the Government in Defence of Archaeology, which you invited to support by email. There is also a discussion of some of the wider implications of Valletta, and an FAQ looking at some of the points to be debated.