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Cultural assets & art

Restitution & World War II claims

Since the Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets in 1998, there has been a huge growth in the number and value of claims by dispossessed owners (and their heirs), particularly of artworks stolen by fascist government forces between 1933 and 1945, but also of those looted at other times of armed conflict.

Claims arising from injustices perpetrated during World War II continue to emerge; often they involve complex legal issues spanning many jurisdictions and long periods of time, as well as difficult moral questions. In many cases the disputes are highly emotive, and they may on occasion involve politically sensitive matters.

Our cultural assets and art team has acquired substantial experience in these and other such claims, and we are handle them with compassion, sensitivity and pragmatism, both in the courts and in mediation.

Recent work

  • Successfully acting for the inheritor of a treasure which was recently seized from a UK national museum on the basis that it was said to have been stolen by Nazis during World War II. The matter initially involved a claim before the Spoliation Advisory Panel, which did not have jurisdiction, and then the item was restored to the client following court proceedings.
  • Representing the widow of a foreign war hero whose assets had been appropriated in England because he was at the time an enemy alien. The claim, before the Enemy Property Claims Assessment Panel, resulted in a substantial settlement from the UK government. Representing heirs and owners dispossessed during World War II.
  • Acting for post-war acquirers of paintings looted in World War II.

© Withers 2007 - 2008