French National Assembly passes cultural property restitution bill

The French National Assembly on Wednesday approved, following a new round of debate, a draft law on the restitution of cultural property acquired through illicit appropriation.

The lower house of parliament passed the bill with 141 votes in favor and none against, although turnout was relatively low compared with the National Assembly's total of 577 seats.

The bill seeks to establish a clearer and simpler legal framework for returning cultural assets acquired by France through illicit means, including looting, theft and sales conducted under coercion. It applies to cultural property acquired between 1815 and 1972, excluding military items and certain archaeological objects.

Under France's longstanding principle of the inalienability of public collections, cultural objects could previously be returned to their countries of origin only through specific legislation on a case-by-case basis and in limited numbers.

The French Senate first passed the draft law on January 29, and the National Assembly approved a slightly different version on April 13 with 170 votes in favor and none against. As differences remained between the two versions, a joint committee composed of seven deputies and seven senators worked to reconcile the differing provisions and submitted a compromise text on April 30.

Under the French legislative process, the revised draft law still requires Senate approval in a review scheduled for Thursday before it can proceed to promulgation.