The Washington Principles, non-binding standards agreed upon 44 states in 1998, aim at ‘just and fair’ solutions concerning looted art under the Nazis regime. In his contribution to the symposium organized by the CIVS on November 15, 2019, Prof. Dr. Matthias Weller compares and analyzes procedural aspects of five European restitution committees, and their decisions. Their diverging notions of ‘justice’ are acceptable, but to let these differences well understood, he advocates for transparency of decisions and recommendations.
Professor of civil law, art and cultural property law at the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Habach Foundation, Matthias Weller is also one of the two directors of the Bonn Institute for German and International Civil Procedure.