The Spoliation Advisory Panel, which was set up in 2000 to look into claims of looted objects, recommended last year that legislation should be introduced to permit the return of cultural objects looted by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945.
This was on the back of the case of the Beneventan Missal, which the panel said should be returned from the British Library to Italy. The panel's ruling was accepted by the government and the British Library, but the act of parliament that governs the library prevents disposal from the collection and the Italians have had to settle for a long-term loan.
The consultation document proposes new legislation that would allow return in tightly defined circumstances.
But a government source admitted that even if the response to the consultation is in favour of changing the law, it is unlikely that any legislation will be forthcoming in the next couple of years because of the pressure on parliamentary time and because there have only been five claims put before the panel so far.
Anne Webber, the co-chair of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, welcomed the consultation, but said she was concerned that finding legislative time wasn't a priority. 'It doesn't matter about the number of claims, there will definitely be more claims in the future and it shouldn't be the case that people have to wait many more years if they are seeking restitution.'
Nicholas Serota, the chairman of the National Museum Directors' Conference working group on spoliation, said that it would welcome legislation but it would have to be carefully circumscribed so that it only applied to works of art spoliated between 1933 and 1945.
The consultation paper asks who should have the final say on return: the trustees; the attorney general; the secretary of state; or the spoliation panel itself. Serota said: 'Ultimately it should be for the trustees to decide as guardians of the collections.' He added that the strength of the spoliation panel was that it was an advisory body and that if it became a statutory body it would be less trusted by claimants and institutions alike.
Although government expects pressure from other restitution lobbies if legislation is enacted the consultation document says that legislation would be tightly drafted and states: 'It should not be possible for this power to be used to allow other objects to be removed from national collections.'
www.culture.gov.uk
This was on the back of the case of the Beneventan Missal, which the panel said should be returned from the British Library to Italy. The panel's ruling was accepted by the government and the British Library, but the act of parliament that governs the library prevents disposal from the collection and the Italians have had to settle for a long-term loan.
The consultation document proposes new legislation that would allow return in tightly defined circumstances.
But a government source admitted that even if the response to the consultation is in favour of changing the law, it is unlikely that any legislation will be forthcoming in the next couple of years because of the pressure on parliamentary time and because there have only been five claims put before the panel so far.
Anne Webber, the co-chair of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, welcomed the consultation, but said she was concerned that finding legislative time wasn't a priority. 'It doesn't matter about the number of claims, there will definitely be more claims in the future and it shouldn't be the case that people have to wait many more years if they are seeking restitution.'
Nicholas Serota, the chairman of the National Museum Directors' Conference working group on spoliation, said that it would welcome legislation but it would have to be carefully circumscribed so that it only applied to works of art spoliated between 1933 and 1945.
The consultation paper asks who should have the final say on return: the trustees; the attorney general; the secretary of state; or the spoliation panel itself. Serota said: 'Ultimately it should be for the trustees to decide as guardians of the collections.' He added that the strength of the spoliation panel was that it was an advisory body and that if it became a statutory body it would be less trusted by claimants and institutions alike.
Although government expects pressure from other restitution lobbies if legislation is enacted the consultation document says that legislation would be tightly drafted and states: 'It should not be possible for this power to be used to allow other objects to be removed from national collections.'
www.culture.gov.uk
