France’s new restitution law passes final vote

On 13 April, the French parliament adopted a new framework law allowing the deaccession and restitution of cultural items plundered from former colonies, nine years after President Emmanuel Macron pledged repatriation of African heritage. Culture minister Catherine Pégard said the law preserves the principle of inalienability of French public collections while creating a strictly supervised process inspired by a 2023 report by former Louvre director Jean-Luc Martinez. Restitution requests must be made by a state and reviewed by a bilateral scientific committee, with returns possible by decree if items are proven stolen, looted, sold under duress, or improperly transferred; military items, public archives, and archaeological dig shares are excluded. The law applies only to cases from the Vienna Congress of June 1815 through April 1972 (when UNESCO’s heritage convention took effect), with post-1972 claims routed to civil courts; the Senate also required a national scientific commission that will publish an annual report.

Read the full article at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events