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Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2025Section 2 › Proposal

Defenses based on the passage of time may not be applied

To clarify the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016, to appropriately limit the application of defenses based on the passage of time and other non-merits defenses to claims under that Act, section 2, Sec. 2. Written by .

Defenses based on the passage of time may not be applied

The document says “may notWho acts: courtsHow: statuteSec. 2 in the PDF
What the document says

“all defenses or substantive doctrines based on the passage of time, including laches, adverse possession, acquisitive prescription, and usucapion, may not be applied with respect to the claim”

To clarify the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016, to appropriately limit the application of defenses based on the passage of time and other non-merits defenses to claims under that Act, Sec. 2

Paragraph (1) of a new subsection (f) inserted into section 5 of the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016 (22 U.S.C. 1621 note). The subsection opens with the words with respect to any claim that is otherwise timely under this Act, so the bar reaches claims that already meet that Act's own time limits. Four doctrines are named as included, and the list is not closed: laches, adverse possession, acquisitive prescription and usucapion. This law does not state what any of those doctrines require or when a claim is otherwise timely.

What the document actually says

“all defenses or substantive doctrines based on the passage of time, including laches, adverse possession, acquisitive prescription, and usucapion, may not be applied with respect to the claim”

To clarify the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2016, to appropriately limit the application of defenses based on the passage of time and other non-merits defenses to claims under that Act, Sec. 2
That sentence, in plain words

A judge may not toss the case just because a lot of time went by.

What this is about

Courts have rules that cut off old claims. Some say you waited too long. Some say the holder kept the art long enough to own it. Those rules do not count here.

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