Amal Clooney is still working hard to win back the Elgin Marbles from the British Museum and return them to Greece, filing a 150-page document recommending the Greek government takes the British Museum to the International Court.

However, according to the Times, Greece has promptly snubbed Clooney’s efforts and decided not to follow her advice, despite Clooney and her colleague Geoffrey Robertson telling Greece that it was a case of “now or never” in the lengthy battle involving the ancient Greek artworks.

According to the Daily Mail, the report promotes the International Court option on the basis that actions in the UK or European courts would prove too costly for Greece. Meanwhile, Greece seems keen on continuing diplomatic negotiations, rather than going through legal channels.

The wife of George Clooney embarked on the latest of many past attempts by Greece to return the Elgin Marbles on returning from honeymoon last year (see Can George Clooney’s Wife Rescue the Elgin Marbles? ), with the financial backing of an anonymous Greek shipping magnate (see Greek Shipping Magnate Is the Money Behind Amal Clooney’s Campaign for the Elgin Marbles).

Since then, the disagreement has intensified as the British Museum agreed to lend the marbles to the Hermitage Museum in Russia (See Fight Breaks Out Over Loan of Elgin Marbles to Russia). This caused consternation in Greece, as one of the key arguments for the refusal of their return is that they are too fragile to be moved.

There is also no strong feeling in the UK that they should remain in the country. In fact, according to a survey taken by the British Government, 50 percent of people asked thought that the marbles should be returned to Greece (see Most Britons Don’t Even Want the Elgin Marbles).  

The dispute is also now having a negative impact on the running of the British Museum, as Athens’s Museum of Cycladic Art refused to lend works to the British Museum after years of friendly co-operation (see Will Greece Deny British Museum Loan Over Elgin Marbles Controversy?).