Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to confer power to return certain cultural objects on grounds relating to events occurring during the Nazi era. |
---|---|
Citation | 2009 c. 16 |
Introduced by | Andrew Dismore [2] |
Territorial extent | England and Wales and Scotland [3] |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 12 November 2009 |
Other legislation | |
Amended by | Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) (Amendment) Act 2019 |
Status: Amended | |
History of passage through Parliament | |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Revised text of statute as amended |
The Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) Act 2009 (c. 16) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Its purpose is to confer, on certain national institutions, a power that was already possessed by other museums to return to their rightful owners cultural objects unlawfully acquired during the Nazi era. [4] It was introduced into Parliament as the Holocaust (Stolen Art) Restitution Bill. [5] The Bill was amended to give it a different name.
These sections came into force on 13 January 2010. [6]
Section 1 provides that the Act applies to:
Section 2 authorises those bodies to transfer objects from their collections if the Advisory Panel has recommended that transfer and the Secretary of State has approved that recommendation. (The bodies in question were previously prohibited by statute from doing this). [7]
Section 3 defines the expression "Advisory Panel". The explanatory notes to the Act said that the Government intended to designate the Spoliation Advisory Panel as the Advisory Panel for the purpose of this Act. [8] That body, created in 2000 as a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, retained its designation under the 2009 Act after it was reconstituted in April 2010 as an expert group (under the same name).
This section came into force on 12 November 2009. [9]
Section 4(1) authorises the citation of this Act by a short title.
Section 4(3) confers a power on the Secretary of State to appoint the day on which sections 1 to 3 of the Act come into force. This power was fully exercised by the Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) Act 2009 (Commencement) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/50 (C.8)).
Section 4(7) was a sunset clause. It provided that the Act would have expired at the end of the period of ten years which began on the day it was passed. This clause was repealed under the Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) (Amendment) Act 2019.
Since the implementation of the Holocaust Act, the Advisory Panel has considered twenty-two claims for the restitution of artefacts and objects. [10] Despite the numerous Advisory Panel's recommendations, the act has only been successfully applied once. [11] This is because the Advisory Panel is a non-binding institution and museums do not have to follow their recommendations. The details of these claims can be seen in the following table :
Institution | Claimant | Object of the request | Date | Advisory Panel's recommendation | Institution decision | Source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ashmolean Museum | Jakob Goldschmidt's heirs | Painting | 2006 | Rejected | [12] | |
Ashmolean Museum | Unknown | Renaissance Salt | 2014 | Approved | Rejected | [13] |
Ashmolean Museum | Gerta Silberberg's estate | Gothic relief in ivory | 2016 | Rejected | [14] | |
Bristol Museum and Art Gallery | Margraf & Co GmbH | Oil painting | 2015 | Rejected | [15] | |
British Library | Unknown | Wooden tablet | 2014 | Approved | Rejected | [16] |
British Library | Metropolitan Chapter of the Cathedral City of Benevento (Southern Italy) | Beneventan Missal (renewed claim) | 2010 | Approved | Rejected | [17] |
British Library | Unknown | Beneventan Missal | 2005 | Approved | Rejected | [18] |
British Museum | Unknown | 14 clocks and watches | 2012 | Rejected | [19] | |
British Museum | Dr Arthur Feldmann's heirs | 4 drawings | 2006 | Rejected | [20] | |
British Museum | Mrs Bertha L. Gutmann of Caldwell (Heinrich Rothberger's niece and heir) | Porcelain | 2008 | Approved | Rejected | [21] |
Burrell Collection | Unknown | Tapestry Fragment | 2014 | Rejected | [22] | |
Burrell Collection | Unknown | Painting | 2004 | Approved | Rejected | [23] |
Cecil Higgins Art Gallery | Mrs Budge's estate | 4 Nymphenburg figures | 2014 | Approved | Rejected | [24] |
Courtauld Institute of Art | Herbert Gutmann's descendants | Oil sketch | 2010 | Rejected | [25] | |
Courtauld Institute of Art | Dr Curt Glaser's estate | 8 drawings | 2009 | Rejected | [26] | |
Courtauld Institute of Art | Fraz W. Koenigs of the Netherlands' granddaughter | 3 paintings | 2007 | Rejected | [27] | |
Courtauld Institute of Art | Dr Arthur Feldmann's heirs | 3 drawings | 2007 | Rejected | [28] | |
Fitzwilliam Museum | Mrs Bertha L. Gutmann of Caldwell | Porcelain | 2008 | Rejected | [29] | |
Tate Galleries | Victim's descendant (Unknown) | Griffiers' painting 'A View of Hampton Court Palace' | 2001 | Rejected | [30] | |
Tate Galleries | Unknown | Constable painting | 2014 | Approved | Rejected | [31] |
Tate Galleries | Baron Hatvany's estate | Oil painting by John Constable 'Beaching a Boat, Brighton' | 2015 | Approved | Rejected | [32] |
Victoria and Albert Museum | Emma Budge's estate | 3 Meissen Figures | 2015 | Approved | Approved | [33] |
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