Enforceability of Vesting Laws: Proceedings before the Belgian Courts

The enforceability of “vesting laws†– legislation which seeks to vest ownership of antiquities in the nation from which they originated – has once again become the subject of a court decision, this time in Belgium. Readers will be familiar with the decisions of the US courts in Hollinshead, McClain and Schultz and the English Court of Appeal in Barakat. These decisions, all from common law jurisdictions, recognise the enforceability of such laws where the antiquities are being traded overseas. Arguments that such items do not fit the US definition of “stolen property†have been reje... Mehr ...