Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) (Amendment) Act 2019

Overview of the Act

Reproduced verbatim from the Explanatory Notes published with the Act on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Explanatory Notes are prepared by the responsible government department and are not part of the Act.

The Act amends the Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) Act 2009 (the "2009 Act") to prevent it from expiring on 11 November 2019.

The 2009 Act received Royal Assent on 12 November 2009. Section 4(7) of the 2009 Act contains a sunset clause that causes the 2009 Act to expire 10 years from the day on which it was passed. However, this Act makes provision for the 2009 Act to continue to have effect indefinitely. To achieve this, this Act repeals the sunset clause in section 4(7) of the 2009 Act.

The 2009 Act confers power on the national museums and galleries listed in section 1 (the "listed institutions") to return certain cultural objects on grounds relating to events occurring during the Nazi era. It does so by enabling these institutions to give effect to recommendations made by the Spoliation Advisory Panel (the "Panel") for the return of such objects. The Panel offers advice on claims for the Return of Cultural Objects lost during the Nazi era (1933-1945) and which are now in UK national collections. This Act allows this power to continue indefinitely.