On July 30, 2025, the French minister of culture introduced a bill to facilitate the restitution of illicitly appropriated cultural items held in public collections in France to their states of origin. The French Parliament is currently reviewing the bill.
The push to return illicitly appropriated cultural property has been building for some time in France. On November 28, 2017, President Emmanuel Macron gave a speech pledging France would spearhead a movement to return cultural property to African states.
The newly proposed bill reflects that pledge, and it would build on two other framework laws passed in 2023 regarding the restitution of cultural property and human remains:
According to the minister of culture, this new bill would allow foreign nations to “reappropriate fundamental elements of their heritage.”
Change in the Restitution Process
Currently, the French Heritage Code requires the French legislature to pass a law authorizing the restitution of each item of illicitly appropriated cultural property, since public collections are considered inalienable. The new bill would provide a derogation from this principle. Restitution would no longer require legislative intervention but instead would be ordered by decree of the Council of State, based on a report from the minister of culture and, in certain cases, also from the minister responsible for the relevant collection. (Code, art. L45-15; Bill, art. L. 115-14.)
Conditions of Applicability
The proposed bill would create a legislative framework applicable to all illicitly appropriated cultural property that meets three specific conditions:
- The cultural property must physically originate from a territory that is currently a part of the state making the restitution request.
- It must be established or there must be serious, precise, and consistent indications that the cultural property was illicitly appropriated between June 10, 1815, and April 23, 1972.
- The cultural property must not have been subject to any international agreement concluded by France before the adoption of this bill. (Art. L. 115-11.)
The proposed definition of illicit appropriation includes unlawful appropriation by theft, looting, transfer or gift obtained through coercion, violence, or from a person who was not entitled to dispose the cultural property. (Art. L. 115-11.)
However, the bill would specifically exclude any archaeological property subject to an excavation agreement or an exchange agreement for scientific studies. It would also exclude any property seized by the armed forces that, by its nature, purpose, or use, contributed to military activities and thus must be regarded as military property. (Art. L. 115-15.)
The treatment of cultural property illicitly appropriated after April 23, 1972, would be addressed through the Law of 7 July 2016 on Freedom of Creation, Architecture and Heritage, which applies the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.
Resolving Controversy Around the Originating State
When two or more states dispute the origin of an item, the state requesting restitution will be determined through a diplomatic settlement. (Art. L. 115-12.)
To examine a request, a joint scientific committee will be established in consultation with the requesting state and may be consulted for its opinion throughout the process. (Art. L. 115-13.)
Prepared by Yena Lee, Law Library Intern, under the supervision of Louis Gilbert, Foreign Law Specialist
Law Library of Congress, November 24, 2025
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