Nederlandse Site
| Decree Establishing the Advisory Committee on the Assessment of Restitution Applications |
Decree issued by the State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science, F. van der Ploeg, establishing a
committee to advise the government on the restitution of items of cultural value of which the original owners
involuntarily lost possession due to circumstances directly related to the Nazi regime and which are currently in the
possession of the State of the Netherlands (Decree establishing the Advisory Committee on the Assessment of
Restitution Applications)
WJZ/2001/4537(8123)
Zoetermeer, 16 November 200
The State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science, F. van der Ploeg,
Acting in accordance with the views of the Council of Ministers;
Having regard to Article 15, third paragraph, of the 1995 Public Records Act;
Herewith decrees as follows:
Article 1
For the purposes of this Decree, the terms below shall be defined as follows:
a. the Minister: the Minister for Education, Culture and Science;
b. the Ministry: the Ministry for Education, Culture and Science;
c. the Committee: the Committee as referred to in Article 2 of this Decree.
Article 2
1. There shall be a Committee whose task is to advise the Minister, at his request, on decisions to be taken concerning applications for the restitution of items of cultural value of which the original owners involuntarily lost possession due to circumstances directly related to the Nazi regime and which are currently in the possession of the State of the Netherlands.
2. A further task of the Committee shall be to issue an opinion, on the Minister’s request, on disputes concerning the restitution of items of cultural value between the original owner who, due to circumstances directly related to the Nazi regime, involuntarily lost possession of such an item, or the owner’s heirs, and the current possessor which is not the State of the Netherlands.
3. The Minister shall only submit a request for an opinion as referred to in the second paragraph to the Committee if and when the original owner or his heirs and the current possessor of the item in question have jointly asked the Minister to do so.
4. The Committee shall carry out its advisory role as referred to in the first paragraph in accordance with the relevant government policy.
5. The Committee shall carry out its advisory role as referred to in the second paragraph in accordance with the requirements of reasonableness and fairness.
Article 3
1. The Committee shall comprise no more than 7 members, including the chairman and the deputy chairman.
2. Both the chairman and the deputy chairman shall be qualified lawyers (meester in de rechten).
3. The Committee shall include at least one member whose expertise on matters concerning World War II constitutes a substantial contribution to the work of the Committee.
4. The Committee shall include at least one member whose expertise on matters concerning art history and museology constitutes a substantial contribution to the work of the Committee.
5. The Minister shall appoint the chairman, the deputy chairman and the other members for a period not exceeding three years. They shall not form part of the Ministry or work in any other capacity under the responsibility of the Minister.
6. The chairman, the deputy chairman and the other members may be reappointed once at most.
Article 4
1. Each request for advice shall be considered by a group of at least three Committee members, to be selected by the chairman, with the proviso that at least the chairman or the deputy chairman shall be involved in the consideration of the request.
2. The Committee may issue further regulations pertaining to the method to be adopted.
Article 5
1. The Minister shall provide the Committee with a Committee Secretariat.
2. The Secretariat shall be headed by the Committee Secretary, who shall be a qualified lawyer (meester in de rechten).
3. The Secretary shall be accountable only to the Committee for the work performed for the Committee.
Article 6
1. If required for the execution of its task, the Committee may, at a meeting, hear the person that has submitted a restitution application as referred to in Article 2, first paragraph and a Ministry representative or, as the case may be, the parties whose dispute, as referred to in Article 2, second paragraph, has been submitted to the Committee for advice.
2. If required for the execution of its task, the Committee may directly approach any third parties in order to obtain information, and may invite such third parties to a meeting so as to learn their views.
3. The Minister shall ensure that all documents that the Committee needs in order to execute its task and that are in the Ministry’s files are made available to the Committee in time and in full.
4. Each and every officer of the Ministry shall comply with a summons or a request issued by the Committee.
5. The restrictions relevant to the public accessibility of records as referred to in Section 1, subsection c, under 1 and 2 of the 1995 Public Records Act that the Committee needs for the execution of its task and are filed in State Archives shall not be applicable to the Committee.
Article 7
1. Every year the Committee shall report to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science on the current situation regarding the tasks referred to in Article 2.
2. The first report shall be submitted in January 2003.
Article 8
The members of the Committee shall receive a fee plus reimbursement for travel and subsistence expenses in accordance with the relevant government schemes.
Article 9
The Committee’s records shall be transferred to the archives of the Ministry’s Cultural Heritage Department after dissolution of the Committee or at such earlier time as may be dictated by circumstances.
Article 10
From the date that this Decree takes effect, the following persons shall be appointed for a period of three years:
a. J.M. Polak of Ede, chairman
b. B.J Asscher of Baarn, deputy chairman
c. Prof. J. Leyten of Nijmegen
d. E. van Straaten of Beekbergen
e. Prof. J.Th.M. Bank of Amsterdam
f. H.M. Verrijn-Stuart of Amsterdam
Article 11
This Decree shall come into effect on the second day after the date of the Government Gazette in which it is published.
Article 12
This Decree shall be cited as the Decree establishing the Advisory Committee on the Assessment of Restitution Applications.This Decree and the associated explanatory notes will be published in the Government Gazette.
The State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science
F. van der Ploeg
« Previous page