NCJ Number
131680
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 81 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1991) Pages: 1067-1101
Date Published
1991
Length
35 pages
Annotation
The increasing international interest in acquiring art as an investment has fueled the trafficking of stolen art and artifacts. Unfortunately, a conflict of interests between art-rich and art-acquiring nations had contributed heavily to the failure of multilateral efforts to curb these thefts.
Abstract
Courts in the United States have employed various doctrines including the statute of limitations bar, the adverse possession doctrine, and the demand and refusal rule, to decide whether original owners of stolen art can sue subsequent bona fide purchasers regardless of the expiration of the applicable limitations period. These doctrines, proving obsolete, are being replaced by the discovery rule which appears to offer the most equitable method for resolving such disputes. However, this author argues that the discovery rule should be amended to more efficiently evaluate the legitimacy of legal claims and to place the burden of action equally upon original owner and present possessor. 181 notes