Backing off some of the more belligerent comments made recently by the Foreign Ministry, Russian President Vladimir Putin has nonetheless signalled that Russia has no plans to return the Chabad library to comply with a 2010 judgment or the more recent sanctions order. Both Reuters and the Art Newspaper reported that Putin proposed to store… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Chabad
Russia Threatens Lawsuit Against U.S. Library of Congress in Further Retaliation for Chabad Sanctions Order
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, LitigationIn a story that gets more unusual with every new development, the Russian Foreign Ministry has reportedly recommended filing a lawsuit, in Russia, against the United States Library of Congress in response to last month’s contempt sanctions order by the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia arising out of Russia’s refusal to obey… Continue Reading
Russia Swiftly Lashes Out At Sanctions Concerning Schneerson/Chabad Library, U.S. Government Still Silent
Posted in Cultural Property, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIDespite refusing to participate in a lawsuit for nearly three years since a judgment that ordered the return to the Chabad Lubavitch movement in Brooklyn of the late Rebbe Menachem Schneerson’s library, the Russian Federation swiftly spoke up when news came of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s order yesterday sanctioning and… Continue Reading
U.S. Asks Court Not to Sanction Russian Defendants in Chabad Library Case—What Now?
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IICasting further doubt on the practical possibility of using the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) to recover cultural artifacts, the U.S. Government has at long last weighed in on the Chabad plaintiffs’ request for contempt sanctions against the Russian defendants, defendants who have defied for more than two years a judgment to return the library of… Continue Reading
Court in Chabad Library Case Solicits Views of the United States on the Foreign Relations Impact of Holding Russia in Contempt
Posted in Collections, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Immunity from Seizure Act, Restitution, World War IIDespite some predictions (!) of a swift ruling on the Chabad plaintiffs’ motion for contempt for the Russian state library defendants’ refusal to comply with an order two years ago to return the library of Menachem Schneerson, the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC today solicited the views of the United States on the possibility of… Continue Reading
Despite Criticism of S.B. 2212’s Proposed Amendment to the FSIA, New Law Would Not Enable Stolen Art
Posted in Collections, Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Immunity from Seizure Act, Legislation, Restitution, World War IIDoreen Carvajal of the New York Times this week addressed Senate Bill 2212, (the “Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act”) this week, a bill approved in March by the House of Representatives. The article gives those most critical of the bill a chance to make their case. While well-intentioned, that criticism continues to miss… Continue Reading
Commentary Takes Shape on S.B. 2212, the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act
Posted in Collections, Customs, Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, Senate Bill 2212, Uncategorized, World War IIIt’s been a few weeks since the House passed the Foreign Cultural Exchange Jurisdictional Immunity Clarification Act (H.R. 4086) and sent it on to the Senate for consideration as S.B. 2212. It has bipartisan sponsorship there (Dianne Feinstein and Orrin Hatch), but no word yet on when it will be put to a vote. As… Continue Reading
Russian Art Embargo News: Chabad Negotiations Over Russian Library Fail, Renewed Request for Contempt Sought
Posted in Collections, Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIAfter months of inactivity and intimations of a possible settlement, the Chabad plaintiffs seeking the return of the Schneerson library have had enough, and have renewed their request to the District Court to sanction the defendants who have not complied with prior orders to return the library. A brief recap: various Russian state libraries have… Continue Reading
More Hope for a Resolution to the Russian Art Embargo?
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, RestitutionFor the second time since October, the Chabad Lubavitch plaintiffs seeking the return of the movement’s library from Russia have asked the D.C. District Court to hold off on issuing any of the sanctions those plaintiffs requested earlier. More specifically this time, the plaintiffs reference ongoing discussions and ask for more time to try to… Continue Reading
Russian Ship Turns Away from San Francisco as Part of Chabad Russian Art Embargo Dispute
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, RestitutionIn a story that did not seem like it could get any more unusual, the long-running Chabad library dispute in Washington, DC that has resulted in a Russian fine art loan embargo for nearly a year took a maritime turn in San Francisco this weekend. At the last minute, a sailing ship named the Nadezhda… Continue Reading
Russian Art Embargo News: Chabad Plaintiffs Put Request for Sanctions on Hold
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIThe Chabad Lubavitch plaintiffs who have been trying for more than six years to obtain the return of the library of Menachem Schneerson—a case which has resulted in an embargo of Russian art loans to the United States for nearly a year—took the unexpected step this week of asking the court to refrain from ruling… Continue Reading
The Met Joins Russian Art Embargo Dispute
Posted in Foreign Sovereign Immunities, Restitution, World War IIIn the latest development in one of this year’s farthest-reaching art law issues, the Metropolitian Museum of Art announced in August that it will no longer lend its works of art within the Russian Federation so long as the Russian embargo on U.S. loans persists. The Met had planned to loan works by French designer Paul… Continue Reading
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