A new piece at the Art Newspaper reflects on the importance of the Portrait of Wally case. Wally was seized in 1998 by customs officials on the theory that it was stolen property when imported into the U.S. The painting sat in a warehouse for 12 years, until a settlement returned the painting to Vienna in… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Foreign Sovereign Immunities
Subscribe to Foreign Sovereign Immunities RSS FeedCommentary Takes Shape on S.B. 2212, the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act
Posted in Collections, Customs, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, Uncategorized, World War IIIt’s been a few weeks since the House passed the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act (H.R. 4086) and sent it on to the Senate for consideration as S.B. 2212. It has bipartisan sponsorship there (Dianne Feinstein and Orrin Hatch), but no word yet on when it will be put to a vote. As… Continue Reading
Von Saher claim against Norton Simon Museum dismissed as preempted under foreign affairs doctrine.
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, Uncategorized, World War IIRaising another hurdle to restitution claims, the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against the Norton Simon Museum to the remnants of the famed Jacques Goudstikker collection, on the grounds that her case is preempted by the United States’ foreign affairs doctrine. In an unusually apologetic decision, the court ruled that regardless of the merits… Continue Reading
Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act: House Votes to Amend FSIA to Exclude Artwork Loan as Basis for Jurisdiction
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Legislation, Restitution, Uncategorized, World War IIThe House of Representatives approved the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act on March 19, 2012, to remove the display of a work of art in the United States as basis to sue a foreign sovereign here. The law touches on important distinctions between immunity from suit—when a party cannot be sued at all—from… Continue Reading
Russian Art Embargo News: Chabad Negotiations Over Russian Library Fail, Renewed Request for Contempt Sought
Posted in Collections, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIAfter months of inactivity and intimations of a possible settlement, the Chabad plaintiffs seeking the return of the Schneerson library have had enough, and have renewed their request to the District Court to sanction the defendants who have not complied with prior orders to return the library. A brief recap: various Russian state libraries have… Continue Reading
More Hope for a Resolution to the Russian Art Embargo?
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, RestitutionFor the second time since October, the Chabad Lubavitch plaintiffs seeking the return of the movement’s library from Russia have asked the D.C. District Court to hold off on issuing any of the sanctions those plaintiffs requested earlier. More specifically this time, the plaintiffs reference ongoing discussions and ask for more time to try to… Continue Reading
The 2nd Circuit Pulls Back on the Reach of the FSIA, Upholds Dismissal of Claim Against Switzerland for Van Gogh Drawing
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIAfter recent expansions of the scope of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has narrowed that statute’s route of access to the courthouse again. The 2nd Circuit affirmed on November 30, 2011 the District Court’s March 11, 2011 dismissalof Andrew Orkin’s claims to recover a Vincent Van Gogh drawing against the… Continue Reading
Full Appeal of Herzog Heirs’ Case Against Hungarian Museums Allowed
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIAs discussed earlier in the Art Law Report, the Herzog heirs’ case against several Hungarian national museums survived dismissal (apart from their claims to 11 paintings whose ownership was litigated in Hungary previously). The remaining question was how much of the case would be heard on appeal: only the narrow question of Hungary’s sovereign immunity,… Continue Reading
Russian Ship Turns Away from San Francisco as Part of Chabad Russian Art Embargo Dispute
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, RestitutionIn a story that did not seem like it could get any more unusual, the long-running Chabad library dispute in Washington, DC that has resulted in a Russian fine art loan embargo for nearly a year took a maritime turn in San Francisco this weekend. At the last minute, a sailing ship named the Nadezhda… Continue Reading
Russian Art Embargo News: Chabad Plaintiffs Put Request for Sanctions on Hold
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIThe Chabad Lubavitch plaintiffs who have been trying for more than six years to obtain the return of the library of Menachem Schneerson—a case which has resulted in an embargo of Russian art loans to the United States for nearly a year—took the unexpected step this week of asking the court to refrain from ruling… Continue Reading
Herzog Case Against Hungarian Museums Focuses on Issues to Be Appealed
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIWith the recent decision in the Baron Herzog case dismissing some claims but allowing the bulk of the case to go forward, the next step is determining what issues can be appealed now. Typically, only a final judgment can be appealed. That is, even if the defendant was right about why the case should… Continue Reading
Hungarian World War II Restitution Case Will Go Forward
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIThe United States District Court has allowed significant parts of the claim brought by claimed heirs of Baron Mor Lipot Herzog to go forward. The decision is significant for several reasons. First, it is the most prominent restitution case currently at the trial level, and the case will now proceed into discovery of the facts. Second,… Continue Reading
The Met Joins Russian Art Embargo Dispute
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIIn the latest development in one of this year’s farthest-reaching art law issues, the Metropolitian Museum of Art announced in August that it will no longer lend its works of art within the Russian Federation so long as the Russian embargo on U.S. loans persists. The Met had planned to loan works by French designer Paul… Continue Reading
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