Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Return of Cultural Objects (Amendment) Regulations 2015 and come into force on 18th December 2015.

Amendment of Return of Cultural Objects Regulations 1994

2.—(1)The Return of Cultural Objects Regulations 1994 are amended as follows.

(2) For regulation 2(1) (interpretation) substitute—

“ 2. —(1) In these Regulations “ the Directive ” means Directive 2014/60/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 (Recast) . ” .

(3) In regulation 2(2) for “Article 1” substitute “ Article 2 ” .

(4) Omit regulation 2(3).

(5) In regulation 3(5) for “two” substitute “ six ” .

(6) In regulation 6(6)(a) for “one year after the” substitute “ three years after the competent central authority of the requesting ” .

(7) In regulation 6(7)(a) for “Article 1(1)” substitute “ Article 2(8) ” .

(8) In regulation 6(7)(b) for “ecclesiastical goods” substitute “ objects belonging to inventories of ecclesiastical or other religious institutions ” .

(9) In regulation 7(1) for “such compensation as the court deems fair according to the circumstances of the case” substitute “ fair compensation ” .

(10) In regulation 7(2) for “it is satisfied that the possessor” substitute “ the possessor demonstrates that he ” .

(11) After regulation 7(2) insert—

“ (2A) In determining whether the possessor exercised due care and attention, the competent court shall consider all the circumstances of the acquisition, in particular—

(a) the documentation on the object's provenance;

(b) the authorisations for removal required under the law of the requesting member State;

(c) the character of the parties;

(d) the price paid; and

(e) whether the possessor consulted any accessible register of stolen cultural objects and any relevant information which he could reasonably have obtained, or took any other step which a reasonable person would have taken in the circumstances. ” .

(12) Omit the Schedule.

Revocation

3. The following regulations are revoked—

(a) The Return of Cultural Objects (Amendment) Regulations 1997 ;

(b) The Return of Cultural Objects (Amendment) Regulations 2001 .