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yesterday

France’s Cabinet Adopts Bill to Expedite Return of Colonial-Era Artifacts

The bill creates a unified process moving foreign-state requests through scientific committees onto the Conseil d’État before a Senate vote in September.

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In 2019, France returned a 19-century sword to Senegal's then president Macky Sall (right)
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Overview

  • The draft law applies to objects acquired between June 1815 and April 1972, after which claims must go to civil courts under the UNESCO convention.
  • Restitution requests will be examined by bilateral scientific committees and require Conseil d’État sign-off to proceed.
  • Under current rules, each deaccession needs a separate parliamentary law, a requirement that has yielded just 30 restitutions since Macron’s 2017 pledge.
  • Requests from Algeria, Benin, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mali, Senegal, Ethiopia and Chad cover a variety of cultural objects from sacred sculptures to royal treasures.
  • The Senate is set to publish its report on September 11 and hold a final vote on the bill on September 24.