Bloomberg has the news from the Prague restitution conference:
“I am more and more convinced, particularly in the art area, that we in the U.S. need some type of arbitration commission,” Eizenstat, a former Undersecretary for Commerce and deputy Treasury secretary, said in an interview in Prague. The panel would “provide some expert judgments on these cases which now go to court in endless litigation,” he said. […]
No general claims resolution has been set up for dealing with Nazi art claims, and claims are mostly dealt with on an ad hoc basis that requires claimants ultimately to go through courts,” the Jewish Claims Conference said in a report. The claims body was reporting to the Prague meeting on how far countries have made good on their Washington pledges.
“Some museums have started to file suits against claimants to ‘quiet title,’ thereby invoking technical legal defenses in order to avoid restituting objects and compelling claimants to spend large sums in legal fees,” the report said.
Eizenstat Favors U.S. Nazi Loot Panel to Advise on Disputed Art (Bloomberg)
