Germany approves tribunal to decide Nazi-looted art claims

Berlin: Germany's government on Wednesday approved a reform to help the heirs of Jewish collectors recover Nazi-looted art, introducing a binding arbitration tribunal to adjudicate claims. The new body replaces an advisory panel, whose decisions could not be legally enforced.

The new system, the result of lengthy negotiations between Germany's federal government and its 16 states, allows claimants to bring cases without the agreement of a disputed artwork's current holder. Under the previous system, that consent was required before the advisory panel could consider a claim.

"We are making the restitution of Nazi-looted art easier, particularly by introducing unilateral access to arbitration," Claudia Roth, Germany's culture minister, said in a statement. "We are also creating more legal security and a more binding system."

Roth added that the reform would enable Germany to better live up to its historical responsibilities and meet its commitment to "fair and just solutions" for Nazi-looted art claims under the Washington Principles. Endorsed by 44 countries in 1998, those nonbinding guidelines paved the way for five European countries to establish claims processes: Germany, Austria, Britain, France and the Netherlands.

The 26-year-old principles were reinforced last year by a new "best practices" agreement that specified claimants should have access to national adjudication panels even if the current holder of an artwork doesn't consent.

Not everyone is happy with the reform. In an open letter published Tuesday, before the tribunal's approval, a group of lawyers, historians and heirs of Jewish collectors said the reform was "clearly a change for the worse" and argued that the criteria for decisions by the new tribunal -- which have not been published yet -- could increase the burden of proof for heirs and exclude victim groups whose claims were recognized under the current system.

The letter added that victims of persecution who sold art "in the context of their flight" from the Nazis would "only have a very limited claim to restitution."

The signees called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to delay considering the proposal until after Germany holds a national election February 23 and let whoever wins the poll decide. Under German arbitration law, changes like these can be made by agreement between the government and the states, and don't require approval from parliament.

But the Central Council of Jews in Germany and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, a nonprofit that secures compensation for Holocaust victims, welcomed the new tribunal. The federal and state governments consulted both organizations while drafting the reform.

"Throughout Europe, the Nazis robbed Jews of their cultural assets. This systematic theft of art was part of the Holocaust," said Gideon Taylor, the president of the Jewish claims body, describing Germany's decision to introduce binding arbitration as "a step forward in coming to terms with this part of its history."

Ellen Germain, the special envoy for Holocaust issues at the State Department, wrote in a statement on social media that the U.S. government also welcomed the reform.

A German Culture Ministry spokesperson said he could not say when the tribunal would start operating.

One case it is likely to consider concerns a painting by Pablo Picasso, which is owned by the Bavarian State Painting Collections. The heirs of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a Jewish banker, argue that he sold the 1903 painting, "Portrait of Madame Soler," under duress and have for many years called for a hearing at the advisory commission.

But Bavaria has refused to refer the case, arguing that Mendelssohn-Bartholdy did not sell the painting because of Nazi persecution. The reform "means that deadlocked cases like 'Madame Soler' can finally get a hearing," said Ulf Bischof, a lawyer representing the heirs.