This year marks 200 years since the British government controversially purchased the Parthenon Marbles from Lord Elgin and displayed them in the British Museum. The longstanding legal and diplomatic dispute about who owns them − Greece or the UK − continues to this day.
As Melbourne is home to one of the largest Greek diaspora communities in the world, on Wednesday 19 October, the Hellenic Australian Lawyers Association (HAL) and Monash Law School jointly hosted a moot court (simulated trial) and panel discussion on the dispute.
The verdict is out and it’s arrant; the marbles should be returned to Greece.
Following the presentation of both sides’ arguments, the moot court’s moderator, Emeritus Professor Gillian Triggs, president of the Australian Human Rights Commission, allowed the audience to cast their vote.
The vast majority deemed the British Museum’s hold on the marbles illegal and decided they should be returned to their home, the Parthenon.
Greece was represented by Paul Athanasiou QC, president of the Victorian Bar Council, and the UK by Julian Burnside ΑΟ QC, who at the end of the panel discussion clarified that he stands with Greece.
Judges for the moot court trial: Justice Emilios Kyrou and Justice Rita Zammit of the Supreme Court of Victoria and Justice Debra Mortimer of the Federal Court of Australia.
Panel discussion members from Monash University: Associate Professor Douglas Guilfoyle, international law expert; Dr Tria Gkouvas, legal philosopher; Dr Andrew Connor, ancient historian; Dr Evangelina Anagnostou-Laoutides, classicist.