Restitution Law and Practice, Recent Developments

Since the Washington Conference in 1998, and the Terezin Declaration in 2009, restitution law and practice have undergone numerous transformative changes. As with every new field and having thousands of objects still unrestituted, the development of restitution law and practice with the aim of redressing the loss of cultural assets due to Nazi era persecution, is still continuing. In the past few years, the guiding principles were reinterpreted, national laws were amended, claim resolution forums were modified, new forums were established and provenance research practice and guidelines were reformulated. These developments significantly changed the way claims are researched, processed, presented and decided. The presentation aims to give a general overview of the practical aspects of bringing claims for the restitution of cultural assets lost as a result of Nazi persecution.