Overview

All public collections in France are owned by the state and cannot be deaccessioned without a new piece of legislation being passed for each return. They are protected by three main principles: inalienability, imprescriptibility, and unseizability.

As of 2023, France is primarily focused on addressing the return of cultural items from Africa. This is largely due to the influential report, The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage: Towards a New Relational Ethics (more commonly known as the Sarr-Savoy Report, after the authors of the document) commissioned by President Macron and published in 2018. It is worth noting the global impact the report has had on the museum sector – particularly in terms of the return of Benin Bronzes. The report focuses on items stolen by soldiers, administrators, and scientific explorers from sub-Saharan Africa during the French colonial period of 1885-1960. The document is comprised of three main parts:

• To Restitute
• Restitutions and Collections
• Accompanying the Returns

Despite the widespread influence of the French Sarr Savoy report across Europe, movement on repatriation in France has been relatively slow and has only included a small number of items returned to African countries.

In January 2024, it was announced that France and Germany have launched a €2.1 million research fund to investigate the provenance of African cultural artefacts in their national institutions. This perhaps highlights the initial focus on the provenance and potential return of African collections.

Law and Policies

In 2021, President Macron commissioned Jean-Luc Martinez to write the ‘Shared Heritage Report’, which was published in April 2023 and outlined three new framework laws relating to repatriation as well as a recommendation for processing claims in a more objective framework. These laws seek to permit restitution by avoiding the need for each repatriation to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and decided solely by the French Parliament.

Ancestors (Human Remains)

On 8 June 2023, a new law relating to the repatriation of ancestors was adopted by the French Senate’s Culture Committee. It is the second of three framework laws; the first being related to Nazi-looted art, and the third which will be related to collections from colonial contexts. These framework laws will mean that it will no longer be necessary to pass a new piece of legislation for each return.

However, the new laws will only apply if claims are made by a nation-state, and not by Indigenous nations themselves. This remains to be tested as the laws come into force, but seems likely that claims will have to go through national governments.

The Senate wrote (translated), ‘Its adoption would provide our country with the framework it lacks to clearly and transparently handle requests for the repatriation of human remains from foreign states and promote scientific and cultural dialogue with requesting countries.’

French Senator Catherine Morin-Desailly said (translated), ‘This new framework text, this time for all human remains, will undoubtedly sign the genesis of a fruitful dialogue with the requesting countries, some of which we share a common history. It is the promise of better cooperation, and the culmination of an initiative that started in the early 2000s in favour of the repatriation of these sensitive assets.’

Belongings/Cultural Items

On 30 July 2025, French Culture Minister Rachida Dati presented the proposed law for the return of cultural items. There are three requirements for an item to be returned:

• A claim has to be made by a nation state
• A claim will only be accepted if the item will be ‘preserved and exhibited to the public’ upon return
• The item must have been stolen, looted, sold under duress, or given by someone who did not have the authority to do so

Claims would be assessed by a scientific committee and, if approved, the Conseil d’Etat would announce the item’s repatriation. The law would apply to items taken between 1815 and 1972.

This law was due to be voted on on the 24 September 2025. At the time of writing (November 2025), the law has not been voted upon yet.

Collaborative Projects

Despite the focus on African collections, the Museé Du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac in Paris have been doing some interesting collaborative projects with Native American Tribes and First Nations in Canada. There has largely been a focus on adding information to their collections database through consultations with Indigenous Nations that focus on adding an Indigenous perspective to the records with the ultimate aim of being able to share these with the public.

The SAWA Project – In partnership with the Laboratory of Ethnology and Comparative Sociology, the SAWA project aimed to provide access and value, with the Wayana and Apalaï of French Guiana, to a group of sound recordings, films, photographs, and objects. The project resulted in the creation of the watau portal, a participatory digital system where these collections and resources are shared.

Halito – In 2016, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Historic Preservation Research Associate Jennifer Byram reached out to the Quai Branly Museum about possible Choctaw items in their museum collections as part of the creation of the Chahta Imponna Database. This contact initiated a working relationship, exchange of information, and consultation between Jennifer Byram of the Choctaw Nation and Paz Núñez-Regueiro, the Quai Branly Museum’s Americas Collection Curator.

This led to a collaborative research project and exhibition at the Historic Library at Versailles with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and the Quai Branly Museum.

Wampum/Otgoä Exhibition – A four year collaboration between Ganondagan (a National Historic Landmark and original site of a 17th century Seneca town), the Quai Branly Museum and the McCord Museum in Montreal, including a travelling exhibition of wampum.

Croyan – Both of the above projects are part of a larger collaborative project called the CROYAN project – the French Royal Collections from North America. The project combines the historical study of the museums collection, material analysis of the objects, conservation-restoration interventions and collaboration with Native American and First Nations specialists.

Although these projects are not directly about repatriation, the nations working on them have built relationships with the curators and other staff members who work with their collections. Like many other countries in Europe, building these relationships now will stand them in good stead for future repatriation requests, as and when the law permits.

Where to find collections