The British Museum Act 1963 is an
Act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
. It replaced the
British Museum Act 1902. The Act forbids the Museum from disposing of its holdings, except in a small number of special circumstances. In May 2005 a judge of the
High Court of England and Wales
The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...
ruled that
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
-looted
artworks held at the museum could not be returned.
Ruling tightens grip on Parthenon marbles
''The Guardian'', 27 May 2005. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
The Act also made the Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
an independent organisation, with its own board of trustees.
See also
* British Museum Act
References
External links
The British Museum Act 1963
as amended, from Legislation.gov.uk
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1963
1963 in London
British Museum Acts
Art and cultural repatriation
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