Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport Fourth Special Report



APPENDIX

CULTURAL PROPERTY: RETURN AND ILLICIT TRADE: INITIAL GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO THE SEVENTH REPORT FROM THE CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT COMMITTEE, SESSION 1999-2000

1. The Government welcomes the Committee's Report. Together with the evidence submitted to the Committee, it represents a major contribution to discussion of a complex range of issues which are of great and growing importance to our museums and galleries, to the antiquities trade, and to many other bodies and individuals. The following paragraphs set out the Government's first response to the individual conclusions and recommendations listed on pages li-liii of the Committee's Report, and printed in italics below.

Illicit trade

    (i)    A clear system for recording the ownership history of a cultural object, linked directly to the capacity to conduct a legitimate transaction, would be an extremely important tool in tackling the illicit trade in cultural property and is therefore desirable in principle. However, we have received persuasive evidence that a compulsory 'log book' providing such a record would face many difficulties, some of them probably insuperable, and we have concluded reluctantly that such a compulsory 'log book' would not represent a practical way forward. However, where organisations feel that they can establish some sort of voluntary 'log book' within their own resources this would be very much welcomed.

    (ii)    We recommend that the Home Office make a public commitment in the course of this year to establishing a national database of stolen cultural property and cultural property exported against the laws of countries concerned under national police control. The Home Office should also seek to take forward detailed discussions with the police service, the insurance industry, the art market and private database operators about the development of an open system which can meet the needs and draw upon the skills and funds of the private sector. Finally, the Home Office should liaise closely with other countries to ensure that any national development is compatible with the wider international development of a database of stolen and illegally exported cultural property.

    (iii)    We do not wish to recommend any changes to the United Kingdom's current controls on the export of cultural property.

    (iv)    We recommend that the Government introduce legislation creating a criminal offence of trading in cultural property in designated categories from designated countries which has been stolen or illicitly excavated in or illegally exported from those countries after the entry into force of the legislation, with a defence in law based on the exercise of due diligence as defined in that legislation.

    (v)    Assuming that the other recommendations in this section of the Report (recommendations (iv) and (vi)) are implemented, we do not recommend that the United Kingdom become a party to the 1970 UNESCO Convention.

    (vi)    We recommend that the United Kingdom sign the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention and that the Government bring forward legislation to give effect to its provisions and facilitate early ratification.

2. The Government is determined to take effective action to combat the illicit international trade in antiquities. To that end, it has appointed an expert Advisory Panel to review both legislative and non-legislative options for action. Recommendations (i) to (vi) relate to matters which are under consideration by the Advisory Panel. The Panel has been asked to report to Ministers by the end of November, and will of course take the Select Committee's recommendations into account in forming its conclusions. The Government will make a further response to the Select Committee when it has received the Advisory Panel's recommendations.

Proposals for legislation

    (xi)    We consider that it would not be appropriate to enact new legislation giving general powers to the trustees or boards of national museums and galleries to dispose of objects in a broader range of circumstances than is currently permitted. Where a special case can be made for return in circumstances affecting national museums and galleries, such return should require specific parliamentary sanction through new primary legislation most carefully prescribing the special additional circumstances in which disposal is to be permitted.

    (xvi)    We recommend that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport undertake a consultation exercise on the terms of legislation to permit the trustees of national museums to remove human remains from their collections with a view to early introduction of such legislation.

    (xviii)  We consider that the case for special treatment of cases of alleged wrongful taking during the period 1933 to 1945 has been convincingly established. It is appropriate that the Spoliation Advisory Panel has been created to ascertain the facts of individual cases and to recommend an outcome for claims which are upheld. While there are merits to a solution which secures continuing public access to an object in a museum, that interest must be seen as subordinate to the interests and wishes of a rightful owner. Where a claim has been upheld and restitution is seen as appropriate by all parties, it is essential that legislative barriers to such restitution be removed. It would be absurd if restitution were not possible in these circumstances due to the dilatoriness of Ministers in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

    (xix)    We very much welcome the lead taken by the British Museum in making clear and unequivocal statements that it would wish to return objects looted during the period 1933 to1945 and not subsequently returned. We recommend that Ministers in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport begin cross-party consultations as a matter of the utmost urgency with a view to securing agreement for early and expedited legislation to permit the trustees or boards of national museums and galleries to dispose of objects which, in the view of the Spoliation Advisory Panel, were wrongfully taken during the period 1933 to 1945.

3. The Government agrees with the Committee that it would not be appropriate to give the boards of the national museums and galleries general powers to dispose of objects in a broader range of circumstances than is currently permitted; but it also agrees that there may be a case for legislation to permit disposals in very specific and tightly defined circumstances. The Government therefore accepts the Committee's recommendation that there should be consultation specifically on the case for legislation to permit the return of human remains, and to permit the return of objects which were wrongfully taken during the period 1933 to 1945. The Minister for the Arts has written to the relevant bodies to set this consultation in train.

Provenance

    (vii)    We welcome steps already taken by museums in the United Kingdom and by the Museums Association to increase awareness of the illicit trade in cultural property and its implications for museums. We support the broad principle that museums should avoid acquiring any object that has no secure ownership history, unless there is reliable documentation to show that it was exported from its country of origin before 1970 and we recommend that the Government also state its support for this principle. We further recommend that, in the light of the development of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport conduct a review of the circumstances in which it is appropriate for museums in England and Wales to act as repositories of last resort of antiquities likely to have originated within those countries.

4. The Government endorses the broad principle that museums should avoid acquiring any object that has no secure ownership history, unless there is reliable documentation to show that it was exported from its country of origin before 1970, or the museum is able to obtain permission for the acquisition from the relevant authorities in the country of origin.

5. The Government accepts that there should be a review of the circumstances in which it is appropriate for museums to act as repositories of last resort. DCMS will initiate a review in consultation with the appropriate museum organisations.

Restitution

    (viii)    We welcome the publication of the Museums & Galleries Commission's Guidelines on Restitution and Repatriation.

    (ix)    It is unreasonable to expect all museums to possess full information on all their holdings. However, in principle we consider that information on collections should be accessible and should not be unreasonably withheld from those with a legitimate interest, including claimants or potential claimants. In setting priorities for the conduct of research on collections and making information about these collections accessible, museums should give consideration to the interests of originating communities.

    (x)    We commend the procedures adopted by Glasgow City Council for handling claims for return of cultural property which provide an important model which others should examine and may wish to follow.

    (xii)    We do not consider that it would be appropriate to establish an independent body to undertake a role in the consideration of claims which would otherwise be undertaken by the governing body of a museum or to consider collectively claims affecting more than one institution.

    (xiii)  We consider that it is appropriate for a service to advise museums on return issues to be developed as a point for advice and information, for example, on the number and nature of claims made and on the procedures followed. It is essential, however, that this point of contact for information is not seen as a participant in the decision-making process itself.

6. The Government endorses the Committee's welcome for the Museums & Galleries Commission's Guidelines on Restitution and Repatriation.

7. The Government fully endorses the Committee's recommendation that information on collections should not unreasonably be withheld; and that in setting priorities for the conduct of research on collections, and making information about collections accessible, museums should give consideration to the interests of originating communities. The Minister for the Arts has written to the national collections, and to Resource and the Museums Association, endorsing this recommendation, and asking Resource to take it into account in considering applications to the Designated Museums Challenge Fund for funding for research into collections.

8. The Government joins the Committee in commending the procedures adopted by Glasgow City Council in its handling of claims for the restitution of objects.

9. The Government agrees with the Committee that it would not be appropriate to establish an independent body to undertake a decision-making role in the consideration of restitution claims, as distinct from the advisory role undertaken by the Spoliation Advisory Panel. However, the Government shares the Committee's view that there should be examination of the case for a centre of expertise and advice which could help museums which may individually have very little experience in handling restitution claims. Resource have commissioned a study of the feasibility of such an advisory unit, and the resources that would be required to set it up.

Human remains

    (xiv)    We recommend that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport initiate discussions with appropriate representatives of museums, of claimant communities and of appropriate Governments to prepare a statement of principles and accompanying guidance relating to the care and safe-keeping of human remains and to the handling of requests for return of human remains.

    (xv)    We recommend that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport seek commitments from all holding institutions in the United Kingdom about access to information on holdings of indigenous human remains for all interested parties, including potential claimants, as part of these discussions.

10. The Government agrees that there is a need for further guidance on the specific issue of the care of human remains, and the handling of requests for their return. The Department will initiate discussions with the relevant bodies shortly on this issue, and on the issue of access to information about holdings of human remains.

Objects acquired during the period 1933 to 1945

    (xvii)   We recommend that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport set out its strategy for assisting non-national museums with provenance research relating to the period 1933 to 1945 and for ensuring that the results of research by national and non-national museums is made available in a common and accessible format in its response to this Report.

    (xx)    We recommend that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport undertake discussions with representatives of the British art market, claimant representatives and other interested parties to explore the extent to which the Spoliation Advisory Panel or a separate body could be engaged to investigate issues relating to cultural objects currently in private hands which may have been wrongfully taken during the period 1933 to 1945 and not subsequently returned and to propose outcomes reflecting the legitimate interests of claimants and of current possessors.

11. Ministers' view is that it is the responsibility of individual museums to undertake provenance research relating to the period 1933 to 1945, and to ensure that the results of such research are made available in an accessible format. Whether an advisory unit could usefully provide guidance in this area is one of the issues being considered in the feasibility study referred to in paragraph 9 above. Ministers commend the work already undertaken by the NMDC Working Group on Spoliation, and their commitment to regular updating of their database.

12. The terms of reference of the Spoliation Advisory Panel permit the Panel to investigate issues relating to cultural objects currently in private hands, where issues are referred to the Panel with the agreement of both the claimant and the current holder of the object in question.


 
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