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Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) Bill

My Lords, I, too, am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Janner of Braunstone, for introducing the Bill, and for the careful way in which he has explained how it will work. We should all pass our congratulations to Mr Andrew Dismore in another place on piloting it through that House. I have heard nothing today with which I disagree. The one certain way of finding ourselves in another holocaust is either to forget about the events of the Nazi era or to deny them—simply to airbrush them from history. We must never, ever do that. I have personally seen, both in Bosnia and Rwanda, how difficult reconstruction can be post-genocide or ethnic cleansing. Some believe that installing democratic processes must be the highest priority in these situations, but security, justice and the rule of law can be more important. Property rights are an important component of this, but are clearly very difficult to provide for. The Bill marks a positive step forward in the moral and legal task of redressing some of the wrongs committed in the Nazi era in regard to the looting of cultural objects. The Holocaust Educational Trust and other bodies have done a good job, along with the Government, in helping Holocaust survivors and their relatives trace and recover lost works of art and in keeping up the profile of the cause. A legal solution to this problem need be delayed no longer. While some Holocaust survivors are still alive we must concentrate our efforts to honour them and the members of their families who perished, and to pursue the course of justice and restitution as soon as possible. The Holocaust was a horrendous and shameful period and its legacy weighs on us all. The noble Lord, Lord Janner, was right when he noted that history will judge the nations who participated by their conduct today. Immediately after the war, restitution of property was not a major priority for the allies, leading to many objects being scattered around Europe and lost to their owners. As time progresses and these owners become fewer, the Bill is one of the last chances to ensure that justice prevails and a right which has been denied for decades is recognised. There are some tax implications that I am aware of, and the noble Lord, Lord Maclennan of Rogart, touched on them. To me they sounded frighteningly complex and I do not pretend to understand them. I will certainly not articulate them, lest any noble Lord challenge me on the details. Is the Minister confident that these issues have properly been thought through? We need to be aware of the law of unintended consequences. For instance, it would indeed be a harsh result if a work restored to a claimant shortly before his or her death had to be sold or returned to a public collection to pay or minimise the liability of the claimant’s estate for inheritance tax—a point well made by the noble Lord, Lord Maclennan of Rogart. The Bill also makes it clear that it is in no way extendable to the problems of regions and times outside the Nazi era, even though claimants might argue that the circumstances in which cultural and religious objects were removed from their original societies were of a comparable severity. However, the nature and extent of the Nazi atrocities were quite exceptional—orders of magnitude greater than the disasters of Bosnia and Rwanda. There should be no implication of an argument, by extension, that if claims for cultural objects wrongfully taken by the Nazis can be accepted, so too should claims for deaccession arising from other circumstances in other eras. The Museums Association’s code of ethics for museums, which was updated in 2007, already covers claims regarding objects from other periods, and sets out agreed ethical codes and standards that allow museums to deaccession items from their collections, subject—in the case of national museums—to statutory limitations. The museums and libraries authority has ensured that its accreditation scheme has incorporated this code of ethics. Finally, although the existing Spoliation Advisory Panel is able to offer a swift, independent and transparent assessment of claims in a way that is cost-effective for all parties, its recommendations are rightly only advisory. The power of independent decision-making remains with the museums. This will maintain the arm’s-length principle on which our national museums, galleries and libraries are governed. Can the Minister confirm that the existing Spoliation Advisory Panel will be the advisory panel mentioned in the Bill? In conclusion, we on these Benches support the Bill and look forward to it receiving Royal Assent in due course.