The Committee, chaired by Jacob Kohnstamm, prefaced its report with a quote from Deuteronomy chapter 16: 'Pursue justice and justice alone'. The report recommends a return to a clear and principled commitment to restitution, assessing cases on the basis of a presumption of involuntary loss from 30 January 1933, removes the balance of interests test and the reliance on assertions of good faith which enabled museums to retain looted works of art, addresses the issues of transparency, accountability and conflict of interest which have beset the claims procedure, acknowledges the failures in communication with claimants and proposes remedies, and calls for proactive research and restitution of looted artworks and the establishment of an independent Help Desk to assist claimants.
To read the report, click here.