Cultural Property Export and Import Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-51)

Marginal note:Definitions

• 36.1 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.

  Convention

  Convention means the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, done at The Hague on May 14, 1954. Article 1 of the Convention is set out in the schedule. (convention)

  First Protocol

  First Protocol means the first protocol, done at The Hague on May 14, 1954, to the Convention. (premier protocole)

  Second Protocol

  Second Protocol means the second protocol, done at The Hague on March 26, 1999, to the Convention.  (deuxième protocole)

  State Party

  State Party means a state that is a party to the Convention and the First or Second Protocol. (État partie)

• Marginal note:Export or removal of cultural property

  (2) No person shall knowingly export or otherwise remove cultural property as defined in subparagraph (a) of Article 1 of the Convention from an occupied territory of a State Party to the Second Protocol, unless the export or removal conforms with the applicable laws of that territory or is necessary for the property’s protection or preservation.

• Marginal note:Offence outside Canada deemed in Canada

  (3) Despite anything in this Act or any other Act, a person who commits an act or omission outside Canada that if committed in Canada would constitute an offence under subsection (2), or a conspiracy or an attempt to commit such an offence, or being an accessory after the fact or counselling in relation to such an offence, is deemed to have committed that act or omission in Canada if the person

  • (a) is a Canadian citizen;

  • (b) is not a citizen of any state and ordinarily resides in Canada; or

  • (c) is a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and is, after the commission of the act or omission, present in Canada.

• Marginal note:Action for recovery of cultural property

  (4) If the government of a State Party submits a request in writing to the Minister for the recovery and return of any cultural property that has been exported from an occupied territory of that State Party and that is in Canada in the possession of or under the control of any person, institution or public authority, the Attorney General of Canada may institute an action in the Federal Court or in a superior court of a province for the recovery of the property by the State Party.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (5) Notice of the commencement of an action under this section on behalf of a State Party shall be served by the Attorney General of Canada on such persons and given in such manner as is provided by the rules of the court in which the action is taken, or, if the rules do not so provide, served on such persons and given in such manner as is directed by a judge of the court.

• Marginal note:Order for recovery of cultural property

  (6) The court in which an action has been taken under this section may, after affording all persons that it considers to have an interest in the action a reasonable opportunity to be heard, make an order for the recovery of the property in respect of which the action has been taken or any other order sufficient to ensure the return of the property to the State Party, if the court is satisfied that the property was exported in contravention of the applicable laws of the occupied territory of the State Party or was imported into Canada for its protection or preservation and that the amount fixed under subsection (7), if any, has been paid.

• Marginal note:Compensation

  (7) The court in which an action has been taken under this section may fix any amount that it considers just in the circumstances to be paid as compensation by the State Party to a person, institution or public authority that establishes to the satisfaction of the court that the person, institution or public authority is a bona fide purchaser for value or has a valid title to the property in respect of which the action has been taken and had no knowledge at the time the property was purchased or the title to the property was acquired that the property

  • (a) had been exported in contravention of the applicable laws of the occupied territory of the State Party; or

  • (b) had been imported into Canada for its protection or preservation.

• Marginal note:Safe-keeping

  (8) The court may, at any time in the course of an action under this section, order that the property in respect of which the action has been taken be turned over to the Minister for safe-keeping and conservation pending final disposition of the action.

• Marginal note:Permit to export

  (9) The Minister shall, on receipt of a copy of a court order made under subsection (6), issue a permit authorizing any person authorized by the State Party on behalf of which the action was taken to export the property in respect of which the order was made to that State.

• Marginal note:Limitations inapplicable

  (10) Section 39 of the Federal Courts Act does not apply in respect of any action taken under this section.