rijk/verdrag/verdrag-inzake-de-regeling-van-aangelegenheden-voortspruitende-uit-de-oorlog-en/BWBV0005377

titel	bwb_id	type	status	datum_inwerkingtreding	bron	citeertitel
Verdrag inzake de regeling van aangelegenheden voortspruitende uit de oorlog en de bezetting	BWBV0005377	verdrag	geldend	1955-09-06	https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBV0005377	Verdrag inzake de regeling van aangelegenheden voortspruitende uit de oorlog en de bezetting

Verdrag inzake de regeling van aangelegenheden voortspruitende uit de oorlog en de bezetting

Artikel 1

1. Upon the entry into force of the present Convention, the Federal Republic shall establish, staff and equip an administrative agency which shall, as provided in this Chapter and the Annex thereto, search for, recover and restitute jewellery, silverware and antique furniture (where individual articles are of substantial value), and cultural property, if such articles or cultural property were, during the occupation of any territory, removed therefrom by the forces or authorities of Germany or its Allies or their individual members (whether or not pursuant to orders) after acquisition by duress (with or without violence), by larceny, by requisitioning or by other forms of dispossession by force.

2.

In the case of cultural property which was present in the country concerned prior to the date applicable to that country, as specified in Article 5 of this Chapter, restitution shall also be made

(a) (a) if it was acquired by way of gift made under direct or indirect pressure or in consideration of the official position of the recipient; (b) (b) if it was acquired by way of purchase, unless it had been brought into the country concerned for the purpose of sale.

3. In the case of jewellery, silverware or antique furniture, restitution may be denied if it is established that the property concerned was removed after acquisition from the original owner for value by way of a regular commercial transaction, even if payment was made in occupation currency.

4. The term “cultural property” shall comprise movable goods of religious, artistic, documentary, scholary or historic value, or of equivalent importance, including objects customarily found in museums, public or private collections, libraries or historic archives. The term “antique” shall mean property which upon the entry into force of the present Convention is one hundred or more years old. The term “substantial value” shall mean a value of not less than 200,000 French francs at the 1 January 1951 purchasing power.

5. The agency referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article will give information on matters dealt with by it to the Three Powers or their representatives on request and submit quarterly reports on its activity. The records of the agency shall be preserved until otherwise agreed.

Artikel 2

1. Restitution pursuant to Article 1 of this Chapter may be requested from the Federal Government only by the Government of the State from the territory of which the property was removed. The Federal Government may reject a restitution request if such request has already been rejected as not well founded by the appropriate agency of one of the Three Powers, except in a case where evidence which could not previously be presented is adduced.

2. Restitution of jewellery, silverware or antique furniture may only be claimed from the Federal Government if a pertinent request has been lodged with an agency of any of the Three Powers prior to the entry into force of the present Convention. In the case of cultural property, no new claim for restitution may be filed after 8 May 1956. Where, in any particular case, the investigations of the German agency referred to in Article 1 of this Chapter with respect to claimed property have been unsuccessful or where they have not led to the discovery of the claimed property by 8 May 1957, and where further investigations are unlikely to be successful, the agency shall discontinue the proceedings. Such a decision may be appealed from by the party concerned to the Arbitral Commission on Property, Rights and Interests in Germany pursuant to Article 7. If, after such discontinuance, the claimed property is identified, the restitution proceedings may be reopened.

3. Claims filed with an agency of any of the Three Powers and not finally disposed of prior to the entry into force of the present Convention and falling within the scope of the provisions of Article 1 of this Chapter and this Article shall be referred by the Power concerned to the German agency referred to in Article 1. They shall be acted upon by the German agency as though filed directly with it by the claimant Government.

4. Submission of a claim for restitution pursuant to Article 1 of this Chapter on behalf of any person or entity shall preclude such submission pursuant to Article 3; likewise, action for restitution pursuant to Article 3 shall preclude submission of a claim for restitution pursuant to Article 1.

Artikel 3

1.

Notwithstanding provisions of German law to the contrary, any person who, or whose predecessor in title, during the occupation of a territory, has been dispossessed of his property by larceny or by duress (with or without violence) by the forces or authorities of Germany or its Allies, or their individual members (whether or not pursuant to orders), shall have a claim against the present possessor of such property for its restitution, subject, however, to:

(a) (a) reimbursement by the claimant to the defendant for expenditures, which have enhanced the value of the property, made after its acquisition; (b) (b) payment by the claimant of the value of any consideration received by him or his predecessor in title, which shall be treated in the same manner as German assets existing at the date of removal in the country from which the property was removed.

No such claim shall exist if the present possessor has possessed the property bona fide for ten years or until 8 May 1956, whichever is later.

2. Any claim to restitution pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article may be brought before a German court on or before 8 May 1956 or before the expiration of ten years during which the possessor possessed the property bona fide, whichever is later, by any national or resident of a State which has acceded to the Charter of the Arbitral Commission on Property, Rights and Interests in Germany.

3. No restitution claim may be asserted, if, prior to the entry into force of the present Convention, a request by a Government on behalf of the claimant for restitution of the property concerned was rejected as not well founded by an agency of one of the Three Powers, except in a case where evidence which could not previously be presented is adduced.

Artikel 4

1. If property to be restituted has, after identification in Germany, either been utilized or consumed in Germany before return to the claimant or been destroyed, stolen or otherwise disposed of before receipt by the claimant Government or by an appropriate agency of one of the Three Powers for despatch to the claimant, the Federal Republic shall compensate claimants who would otherwise be entitled to restitution under Article 1 or 3 of this Chapter, or who, at the entry into force of the present Convention, have had their claims for restitution approved by one of the Three Powers.

2. The German agency referred to in Article 1 of this Chapter shall, upon application by the claimant otherwise entitled to restitution, render a decision on the compensation claim in respect of property the restitution of which could have been requested under Articles 1 and 2. The court stipulated in Article 3 shall, upon suit brought by the claimant otherwise entitled to restitution, render a decision on the compensation claim in respect of property the restitution of which could have been requested under Article 3, provided that the plaintiff is a national or a resident of a State which has acceded to the Charter of the Arbitral Commission on Property, Rights and Interests in Germany. The filing of the application and the bringing of the suit must take place not later than one year after the entry into force of the present Convention or one year after notification to the claimant that the property is not available for restitution, whichever is later.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 of this Article, claims falling within the scope of paragraph 1 filed with an agency of any of the Three Powers before the entry into force of the present Convention may either be referred by that Power to the German agency referred to in Article 1 of this Chapter or be filed with that agency by the claimant Government. All claims under this paragraph shall be referred to or filed with the agency not later than six months after the entry into force of the present Convention and shall be decided by it.

4. The German agency referred to in Article 1 of this Chapter shall recognize claims for restitution which have been approved by any of the Three Powers prior to the entry into force of the present Convention. The agency shall also accept as conclusive a certificate by any one of the Three Powers that the property which was the subject of the claim had not been received by an appropriate agency of that Power for despatch to the claimant.

5. Compensation pursuant to this Article shall be awarded in the amount of the replacement value of the property concerned as of the date of the award.

Artikel 5

1.

The provisions of this Chapter shall apply in respect of the following countries as of the respective date set forth below:

Country	Date
Austria ...................................................	12 March 1938
Czechoslovakia ......................................	1 April 1939
Poland ..................................................	1 September 1939
Denmark ...............................................	9 April 1940
Norway .................................................	9 April 1940
Belgium ................................................	10 May 1940
Luxembourg ..........................................	10 May 1940
Netherlands ...........................................	10 May 1940
France ..................................................	17 May 1940
Greece .................................................	28 October 1940
Yugoslavia ............................................	6 April 1941
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ..........	22 June 1941
Italy ......................................................	3 September 1943
Rumania ...............................................	12 September 1944
Finland .................................................	19 September 1944
Bulgaria ................................................	28 October 1944
Hungary .................................................	20 January 1945

2. The provisions of this Chapter shall cover public and private property which was removed from territories referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

Artikel 6

If the Federal Republic concludes with any other Power, on matters within the scope of this Chapter, arrangements more favourable to such other Power than the corresponding provisions of this Chapter, the benefits of such new arrangements shall automatically be extended to all powers benefiting from those provisions.

Artikel 7

1. The Signatory States hereby establish an Arbitral Commission on Property, Rights and Interests in Germany, which shall function in accordance with the provisions of its Charter annexed to the present Convention.

2. Upon application of the party concerned, any final decision (Endentscheidung) by the German agency pursuant to Articles 1, 2 or 4 of this Chapter, or by a German court pursuant to Articles 3 or 4, shall be subject to review by the Arbitral Commission on Property, Rights and Interests in Germany.

3. Application to the Commission shall be submitted by the party concerned within thirty days after service of such decision. If the German agency or the German court does not render a decision within one year after submission of the claim, the claimant may submit his claim directly to the Commission within thirty days following the expiration of the one year period.

4. In any case submitted to it, the Commission may itself render a final decision in regard to such case or may remand it to the German agency or to the German court with such instructions as the Commission deems necessary or appropriate.

5. The judgments of the Commission shall be final and binding on the authorities and courts of the Signatory States and other States acceding to its Charter.