Census and RPC-Venezuela: Two parallel Identification Systems for the legal protection of the Venezuelan Cultural Heritage

Abstract

The Census of Cultural Heritage and the RPC are the two Identification and Registration Systems that Venezuela has implemented to protect its Cultural Heritage, coexisting both instruments for the recognition, cataloging and above all the legal protection of the goods protected by the State once they acquire this quality. Its applicability shows that close to constituting a single registry for the effective protection of heritage assets, has generated a duality from the legal field that has not been clarified under any instrument or administrative process. This article analyzes closely the methodological composition and the legal impact of both Identification and Registration Systems since they are not only in force in parallel but their legal effects are clarified after the substantial differences in the approaches and categories of registration that arise to recognize and protect the cultural heritage. Therefore, this work allows to enter the General Registry of the Venezuelan Cultural Heritage from the legal scope and to unravel its applicability for the sake of being a topic little explored within the national context.