UNIDROIT hosted an Iraqi delegation at its Rome headquarters for a two-day study visit aimed at tightening the country's legal defences for cultural heritage, the institute announced on 12 October. The 7–8 October visit, organised with the European Union Advisory Mission in Iraq, brought six lawyers from the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage together with senior parliamentary officials to work through Iraq's overhaul of its heritage legislation.

At the centre of the talks is a draft law to replace Law No. 55 of 2002, the statute that has governed Iraqi antiquities for more than two decades, and the final steps toward Iraq's accession to the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects — the treaty that gives dispossessed owners a direct route to reclaim looted artefacts across borders.

Secretary-General Ignacio Tirado welcomed the delegation, where sessions covered inclusive legislative drafting, impact assessments and the interplay between domestic law and international instruments, including the 1954 and 1970 UNESCO conventions. Principal Legal Officer Marina Schneider briefed the visitors on the 1995 Convention's compulsory declarations, while Professor Manlio Frigo proposed a methodical approach to rewriting national heritage law. The SBAH team also presented its progress on the draft legislation.

The visit forms part of EUAM Iraq's support for civilian security-sector reform and signals Baghdad's intent to close legal gaps that traffickers have exploited. For UNIDROIT, in its centenary year, it marks a further step in extending the 1995 Convention's reach in a region where looting has funded conflict.