Greece rules out legal action to recover Elgin Marbles

As reported by Jeremy, the Greek government publicly stated this week that it would not be pursuing restitution of the Elgin Marbles through international courts, despite being advised by their high-profile British legal team that it is a “now or never” opportunity.  

The Greek culture minister Nikos Xydakis told Greece’s Mega TV: "One cannot go to court over whatever issue. Besides, in international courts the outcome is uncertain", adding “the road to reclaiming the return of the sculptures is diplomatic and political.” The Greek government would instead switch to “low-key, persistent work” to effect the Marbles’ return to Athens.

The comments came 48 hours after a 148-page report prepared by Geoffrey Robertson QC, Norman Palmer QC and Amal Clooney was presented to the Greek government, urging it to consider legal action against the British Museum through the International Court of Justice or the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. 

Elgin Marbles east pediment (Image: Andrew Dunn/Wikimedia)

Background to the report

The Greek government has made longstanding appeals for the return of the controversial Elgin Marbles, the sculptures removed by Lord Elgin from the Parthenon in the early 1800s that, following their purchase by the British Government in 1816, became part of the British Museum’s collection. 

The dossier, commissioned following a high-profile visit to Athens by the team of lawyers last October, is reported by the Independent to make a compelling case for the Greek government to pursue legal action and sets out which steps needed to be taken. “The British adhere to international law…The Greek government has never taken advantage of this Achilles’ heel,” the report is quoted as saying. “You must take legal action now or you may lose the opportunity to do so due to future legal obstacles.”

The report proposes first making a formal request for the Marbles’ return, then lodging a claim at the International Court of Justice. If the Court were to refuse jurisdiction, an approach should be made to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). A “75-80 per cent chance” of success is estimated if an international court accepts jurisdiction, and the report cites a 1962 International Court of Justice ruling which forced Thailand to return sculptures removed from the Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia. The advice also suggests the case would also be looked upon favourably under the European Convention on Human Rights.

One possible future obstacle is the new Conservative government’s election pledge to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 and to consider making Strasbourg judgments non-binding on UK courts. The new Culture Secretary, John Whittingdale, has also previously made clear that he supports the British Museum in the dispute.

Reaction

Despite such obstacles, the Greek government’s comments have been somewhat unexpected. Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, led far-left Syriza to power in January on the back of nationalist sentiment and declared his intention to secure the return of the Elgin Marbles. In March Mr Xydakis responded to the British Museum’s refusal to consider mediation by condemning British “negativism” and “lack of respect for the role of mediators”. Furthermore, a considerable amount of goodwill has been generated by recent efforts (not least Amal Clooney’s highly-publicised involvement in the matter), with public opinion in the UK also supporting the return of the Elgin Marbles to Athens.

It has been speculated that the Greek volte-face is the result of pressure from the EU and IMF over Greece’s massive debts and the looming possibility of an exit from the eurozone. However, the report was funded by a third party, and there have been several offers to assist in funding any legal action. It remains to be seen whether the Greek government will follow any of the report’s recommendations. For now this development counts as a major victory for supporters of the British Museum, but it is evident that the dispute is nowhere near its conclusion. 

Elgin Marbles: no litigation after all, but diplomacy to continue

"Shall we go back to Athens, then?
It's positively 'friezing' here in London ..."

"Elgin Marbles legal action ruled out by Greece" is the news from the BBC website today. The article, by an unnamed author, can be read here. It states, in relevant part:

Greece has ruled out taking legal action against the UK to reclaim the Elgin Marbles from the British Museum. In an unexpected move, Greece's culture minister said the country would pursue a "diplomatic and political" approach to retrieving the sculptures instead.

In doing so, the country has rejected the advice of barrister Amal Clooney, who had urged Greece to take Britain to the International Court of Justice.

Lord Elgin acquired the Marbles from the Ottoman Empire 200 years ago.

Greece insists the Parthenon Sculptures - as they are properly known - were taken illegally and has pursued a high-profile campaign in recent years for their return, latterly with the help of Mrs Clooney. Mrs Clooney reportedly submitted a 150-page report to the Greek government this week urging it to formally request the repatriation of the marbles and take Britain to the International Court of Justice if it refused. But Greece's culture minister Nikos Xydakis told the country's Mega TV: 

"One cannot go to court over whatever issue. Besides, in international courts the outcome is uncertain".

He said he believed attitudes to the future of the Marbles were slowly changing and would favour Greece in a diplomatic approach. ...

An earlier initiative to have the dispute mediated by UNESCO was rejected by the British (on which see Marian's post here). This blogger was sad about this, since mediation never hurts: a mediator cannot impose an outcome on an unwilling party and the process itself often enables both sides to be more sensitive to the interests and the anxieties of the other.

This blogger is however curious to know the precise legal basis upon which a legal claim for repatriation of the Elgin Marbles would be made, and whether the same argument would effectively provide a basis for repatriating quantities of other museum holdings. Can any reader advise?

Elgin Marbles: British Museum rejects UNESCO mediation process

UNESCO and the Greek government have made longstanding appeals to the UK to enter into mediation over the possible return of the controversial ‘Elgin Marbles’, the sculptures removed by Lord Elgin from the Parthenon in the early 1800s that, following their purchase by the British Government in 1816, became part of the British Museum’s collection. This week the British Museum wrote an open letter to UNESCO declining to participate in mediation, but suggesting that it was open to a possible ‘joint venture’ with the Acropolis Museum.

British Museum’s letter to UNESCO

Justifying its rejection of UNESCO’s offer to mediate, the British Museum argued that the matter fell outside UNESCO’s mandate to ‘preserve and safeguard endangered cultural heritage’. Since the surviving Parthenon sculptures are “carefully preserved in a number of European museums”, they “clearly do not fall into this category".

Secondly, the letter suggested that the UNESCO-facilitated mediation only concerns intergovernmental disputes, whilst the British Museum “is not a government body, and the collections do not belong to the British Government.” It was expressed that any collaborative ventures with Greek institutions would "not [be] on a government-to-government basis".

The letter reminded UNESCO that the British Museum has ‘routinely lent to Greece’, and enjoys ‘excellent collaborative relationships with Greek museums and universities’. Sidestepping the long-running debate over the legality of Lord Elgin’s actions, the British Museum stated that the Elgin Marbles are held “for the benefit of the world public, present and future”, and invited the Museum’s Greek counterparts “to explore new ways of enabling the whole world to see, study and enjoy the sculptures of the Parthenon.”

The letter promoted the British Museum’s current exhibition ‘Defining Beauty: the Body in Greek Art’ as an example of the ‘great public benefit’ of inter-museum loans. Meanwhile, the controversial loan of one of the Parthenon sculptures to Russia at the end of last year - which at the time had provoked a furious reaction from the Greek government – was described enthusiastically as ‘Russia’s first glimpse of the splendours of fifth-century Athens’.

The ‘Ilissos’ from the Parthenon on display in the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, 6 December 2014 – 18 January 2015 (British Museum)

British Government’s letter to UNESCO

A second letter addressed to UNESCO, sent on the same date and signed by the UK Culture Minister Ed Vaizey, adopted a markedly different tone. 

The letter made explicitly clear that the Elgin Marbles were ‘legally acquired by Lord Elgin under the laws pertaining at the time” and thus the British Museum possessed “clear legal title to the sculptures since 1816". The letter asserted that "neither the British Government nor the British Museum are aware of any new arguments to the contrary since 1985, when a formal Greek request for the return of the sculptures was turned down".

The British Government also called out what it saw as Greece’s intent to deny the British Museum’s right of ownership during the mediation process, and added that legislation limits the British Museum from de-accessioning objects in their collections. 

Reaction 

The Greek government responded by issuing a statement “deploring” the British Museum’s refusal to enter mediation, adding: "British negativism is overwhelming, along with its lack of respect for the role of mediators". It has been suggested that the UK’s refusal to join the mediation process could result in legal action by the Greek government in an international court to reclaim the ancient sculptures.

Meanwhile the chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, Eddie O’Hara, said that the British Museum “plays the game of offering a loan because they know the Greeks would never accept a loan”.  Any agreement involving the loan of the Elgin Marbles would require recognition of the British Museum’s right of legal ownership and a promise to return the sculptures.

UK polls have consistently showed strong support in Britain for returning the sculptures: an opinion poll conducted by YouGov in October 2014 showed that only 23% of the British public thought the Marbles should stay in Britain. 

Unfortunately, the public's appetite for change has not been reflected at a political level. An early day motion tabled earlier this month in the House of Commons urged the British Government to act to “reunite these British-held Parthenon sculptures with those now displayed in the purpose-built Acropolis Museum in the shadow of the monument to which they belong, the Parthenon”. It garnered a mere 20 signatures out of a possible 455.