[caption id="attachment_1537" align="alignnone" width="487" caption="www.icom.museum"][/caption] In May 2011, the International Council for Museums (ICOM), the ICOM Ethics Committee and Germany’s central office for the documentation of lost cultural property jointly compiled the checklist on ethics of cultural property ownership. The Ethics Checklist is a supplemental document for ICOM's Code of Ethics for Museums. 

Considering the complexity of the ethical questions affecting the work of museums today, the Checklist is a tool for two purposes: it sets out the 8 organising principles that shape the detailed articles of the ICOM Code, as well as providing orientation and support in dealing with these complex topics; and it offers a list of contacts for further advice on particular questions.

Museum Ethics Checklist 8 organising principles:

• Museums preserve, interpret and promote the natural and cultural inheritance of humanity
• Museums that maintain collections hold them in trust for the benefit of society and its development
• Museums hold primary evidence for establishing and furthering knowledge
• Museums provide opportunities for the appreciation, understanding and promotion of the natural and cultural heritage
• Museums hold resources that provide opportunities for other public services and benefits
• Museums work in close collaboration with the communities from which their collections originate as well as those they serve
• Museums operate in a legal manner
• Museums operate in a professional manner

Download the Ethics Checklist for Museums here.