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Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

Abstract

This Note discusses the legal issues surrounding the Gurlitt Collection at each step of the process, and proposes that the mishandling of the collection should spark the need for an international treaty focusing on alternative dispute resolution ("ADR") mechanisms for restituting large troves of looted art. Section II of this Note provides a history of the Gurlitt Collection and the Washington Principals, the non-binding principals currently guiding countries in international restitution. Then, Section III critically examines how the collection has been handled since its discovery in 2012: by the German government, by the media, through ADR mechanisms, and through domestic courts. Finally, Section IV proposes that the Gurlitt Collection has sparked the need for a new international conference, culminating with the codification of the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art into a binding treaty, and creating a two-step process for restitution claims regarding art looted during wartime. This process includes seeking an expert determination, and then bringing the claim in front of an international arbitration tribunal. The team of experts and the arbitration tribunal should be used and funded by all signing countries and be used for the return of all cultural property looted during war, focused primarily, but not limited to, WWII.

Disciplines

Criminal Law | Criminal Procedure | Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | International Law | Law

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