A visitor examines the Cana throne, which was looted by French colonial soldiers, at an exhibition featuring both returned Benin artefacts and contemporary artworks in Cotonou, Benin, on February 18, 2022. Photo: VCG

French lawmakers in the National Assembly on Monday passed a bill to simplify the return of artworks and other prized artefacts looted during the country’s colonial era to their countries of origin, France 24 reported. 

French lawmaker Jérémie Patrier-Leitus posted a video on Monday of his speech regarding the passing of the bill, referencing French writer Victor Hugo’s letter in 1861 to Captain Butler about the sack of the Summer Palace in Beijing that “One day will come when France, once freed and cleansed, will return this plunder to looted China.” 

The draft legislation was unanimously approved by the lower house – the National Assembly – late on Monday, while the upper house had passed the measure in January. It will next be sent to the National Assembly lower house before becoming law, per France 24. 

France still has in its possession tens of thousands of artworks and other prized artefacts that it looted from its colonial empire, according to France 24. 

The new measure specifically targets objects acquired between 1815 and 1972, according to RFI. 

Lawmakers also voted for the French government to publish an annual list of works that may have been acquired illicitly, in order to ensure better information for requesting states, per France 24.

French lawmakers also adopted, against the government’s position, an amendment requiring states to commit to preserving returned cultural property in accordance with international standards and ensuring public access to it, according to Le Parisien. 

French Culture Minister Catherine Pégard said that “this law is awaited in France and around the world,” adding that it is not merely a “legal tool,” but a choice to “open a new chapter in our history,” France 24 reported.

The bill follows French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit in 2017 to Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, where he vowed that France would never again interfere in its former colonies and promised to facilitate the return of African cultural heritage within five years, per France 24. 

The bill was initiated in 2023, but it has been delayed by political instability and changes of government as well as the sensitivity of the subject, according to The Art Newspaper. 

In 2023, France adopted two so-called framework laws to return objects in two categories: one for goods looted from Jewish families during World War II, and another for the repatriation of human remains from public collections, RFI reported. 

Global Times