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The new body will be easier to access and its decisions will be legally binding. But some lawyers and Jewish heirs are not happy with the reform.
Jan. 9, 2025Updated 12:50 p.m. ET
Germany’s government on Wednesday approved a reform to help the heirs of Jewish collectors recover Nazi-looted art, introducing a binding arbitration tribunal to adjudicate claims. The new body replaces an advisory panel, whose decisions could not be legally enforced.
The new system, the result of lengthy negotiations between Germany’s federal government and its 16 states, allows claimants to bring cases without the agreement of a disputed artwork’s current holder. Under the previous system, that consent was required before the advisory panel could consider a claim.
“We are making the restitution of Nazi-looted art easier, particularly by introducing unilateral access to arbitration,” Claudia Roth, Germany’s culture minister, said in a statement. “We are also creating more legal security and a more binding system.”
Roth added that the reform would enable Germany to better live up to its historical responsibilities and meet its commitment to “fair and just solutions” for Nazi-looted art claims under the Washington Principles. Endorsed by 44 countries in 1998, those nonbinding guidelines paved the way for five European countries to establish claims processes: Germany, Austria, Britain, France and the Netherlands.
The 26-year-old principles were reinforced last year by a new “best practices” agreement that specified claimants should have access to national adjudication panels even if the current holder of an artwork doesn’t consent.
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