On May 13-14 a scientific conference “Theoretical Foundations of Historic Preservation – 60 Years of the Venice Charter” was held at the Royal Lazienki Park in Warsaw, organized by the Polish National Committee of the International Council for Monument Protection ICOMOS in cooperation with the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. The topics of the session were devoted to the Venice Charter, which is one of the most important doctrinal documents on the conservation and restoration of monuments.
Advocate Maciej Obrębski participated in a panel discussion, during which he pointed out the need to specify the standards and directions for the protection of monuments in the laws in force in Poland. Based on the currently formulated regulations, administrative courts are not able to verify, in terms of content, the positions of the conservation authorities of the first and second instance, which leads de facto to the non-existence of judicial-administrative control in these issues.
Advocate Maciej Obrębski also raised the problem of the overly rigorous approach of the conservation authorities in determining the area boundaries of monuments subject to restoration or reconstruction. Imposing on investors the obligation to rebuild elements that do not exist, in the past located outside the main object, in many cases nullifies the legitimacy of undertaking investments at all.
