Bill · started in the Commons
British Museum Act 1963 (Amendment) Bill
A Bill to amend the British Museum Act 1963 to permit the transfer of artefacts in the British Museum; to confer powers on the Secretary of State to require the transfer of artefacts in specified circumstances; and for connected purposes
In progress
Current stage: 2nd reading (Commons)
The story so farThe British Museum Act 1963 (Amendment) Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 26 January 2009 by Mr Andrew Dismore (Labour). It is now at second reading in the House of Commons. Second reading is the first debate on the overall principle of the bill; if the bill clears it, detailed committee scrutiny follows.
What the bill does
<p>At present the British Museum is prevented by statute from disposing of objects in its collections except in very limited circumstances. The Bill’s purpose is to amend the British Museum Act 1963 to enable the British Museum to transfer to another institution, for public exhibition, any object from its collections, in certain circumstances, where public access is guaranteed. Those circumstances are:</p><ul><li>where the object would be more widely accessible to visitors than in the British Museum </li><li>where it would be more appropriately displayed in the recipient institution than in the British Museum by reason of its historic links</li><li>where the object came to form part of the collections of the British Museum in circumstances which make its retention in the collections undesirable or inappropriate. </li></ul><p>The Bill confers a general power but its sponsor envisages only one situation in which it might realistically apply: to repatriate the Parthenon Marbles to Greece. </p>
Progress through Parliament
- 1st reading Commons 26 Jan 2009
- 2nd reading Commons 15 May 2009
Source: the official bill page. Last updated 9 Nov 2009.