The Dutch Restitutions Committee () was established in 2001 to deal with claims for the
restitution
Restitution and unjust enrichment is the field of law relating to gains-based recovery. In contrast with damages (the law of compensation), restitution is a claim or remedy requiring a defendant to give up benefits wrongfully obtained. Liability ...
of Nazi-era
looted works of art to their original owners or their descendants. The rulings of the committee have been controversial with some restitution advocates arguing that they are unfair to claimants.
Criticisms
Of the five international Restitution Committees that exist (UK, France, Austria & Germany) the Dutch Restitution Committee has the lowest restitution rate, returning only about one third of the artworks claimed. Recently the Restitution Committee introduced the controversial Balance of Interest test, which takes into consideration the desire of the (typically government owned) museum to keep a looted artwork, rather than return it to the rightful claimants. This resulted in the Committee's refusal to restitute a number of important artworks and led to international criticism at what many viewed as a self-serving mechanism. Ambassador
Stuart Eizenstat
Stuart Elliott Eizenstat (born January 15, 1943) is an American diplomat and attorney. He served as the United States Ambassador to the European Union from 1993 to 1996 and as the United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001. ...
, the author of the Washington Principles, recently indicated at an international conference in Berlin, that the "Balance of Interest test in not in accordance with the Washington Principles" and indicated that this mechanism should no longer be used.
In 2020 a Dutch panel concluded that the restitution process was unduly complex and unfair to claimants. Taco Dibbits, the director of the Rijksmuseum, denounced the "balance of interest" policy to a bicycle thief who argues that he should be able to keep stolen property because he's using it.
In the face of sustained criticism, the Dutch Restitutions Committee reversed its former rulings in several cases.
Presidents
* 2001‒2004:
* 2004‒2007:
* 2007‒2008: Herrmann
* 2009‒2016:
W. J. M. Davids
* 2016–present:
See also
*
Nederlands Kunstbezit-collectie (Netherlands Art Property Collection or NK collection)
*
List of claims for restitution for Nazi-looted art
The list of restitution claims for art Nazi plunder, looted by the Nazis or as a result of Nazi persecution is organized by the country in which the paintings were located when the return was requested.
Australia and New Zealand
Croatia
...
*
Arthur Seyss-Inquart
Arthur Seyss-Inquart (; ; 22 July 1892 16 October 1946) was an Austrian Nazi politician who served as Chancellor of Austria in 1938 for two days before the ''Anschluss''. His positions in Nazi Germany included deputy governor to Hans Frank in t ...
*
Erhard Göpel
Erhard Göpel (born June 3, 1906 in Leipzig, † October 29, 1966 in Munich) was a German art historian and high level Nazi agent who acquired art, including looted art, for Hitler’s Führermuseum.
Life and work before 1939
Erhard Göpel (als ...
*
Hitler's ''Führermuseum''
*
Sonderauftrag Linz
*
Richard Semmel
References
External links
Official website2008 Report of the Advisory Committee on the Assessment of Restitution Application for items of Cultural Value and the Second World War
*[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-cultural-property/article/from-leader-to-pariah-on-the-dutch-restitutions-committee-and-the-inclusion-of-the-public-interest-in-assessing-nazispoliated-art-claims/F0527EF6B4825D2CB6A9E37CE2786B53 From “Leader to Pariah”? On the Dutch Restitutions Committee and the inclusion of the public interest in assessing Nazi-spoliated art claims], ''International Journal of Cultural Property'', Volume 28, Issue 1, February 2021, pp. 55 – 85
2001 establishments in the Netherlands
Restitution
{{Netherlands-stub