Cultural Property Export and Import Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-51)

Appeals Before the Tax Court of Canada

Marginal note:Appeal of redetermination of fair market value

• 33.1 (1) Any person who has irrevocably disposed of an object, the fair market value of which has been redetermined under subsection 32(5), to a designated institution or public authority may, within ninety days after the day on which a certificate referred to in subsection 33(1) is issued in relation to that object, appeal the redetermination to the Tax Court of Canada.

• Marginal note:Decision of Court

  (2) On an appeal under subsection (1), the Tax Court of Canada may confirm or vary the fair market value and, for the purposes of the Income Tax Act, the value fixed by the Court is deemed to be the fair market value of the object determined by the Review Board in respect of its disposition.

Marginal note:Extension of time for appeal

• 33.2 (1) Where an appeal has not been instituted by a person under section 33.1 within the time limited by that section, the person may make an application to the Tax Court of Canada for an order extending the time within which the appeal may be instituted and the Court may make an order extending the time for appealing and may impose such terms as it considers just.

• Marginal note:Contents of application

  (2) An application made under subsection (1) shall set out the reasons why the appeal was not instituted within the time limited by section 33.1.

• Marginal note:How application made

  (3) An application made under subsection (1) shall be made by filing in the Registry of the Tax Court of Canada, in accordance with the provisions of the Tax Court of Canada Act, three copies of the application accompanied by three copies of the notice of appeal.

• Marginal note:Copy to Deputy Attorney General

  (4) The Tax Court of Canada shall send a copy of each application made under this section to the office of the Deputy Attorney General of Canada.

• Marginal note:When order to be made

  (5) No order shall be made under this section unless

  • (a) the application is made within one year after the expiration of the time limited by section 33.1 for appealing; and

  • (b) the person making the application demonstrates that

    • (i) within the time limited by section 33.1 for appealing, the person

      • (A) was unable to act or to instruct another to act in the person’s name, or

      • (B) had a bona fide intention to appeal,

    • (ii) given the reasons set out in the application and the circumstances of the case, it would be just and equitable to grant the application,

    • (iii) the application was made as soon as circumstances permitted, and

    • (iv) there are reasonable grounds for the appeal.

Report to Minister

Marginal note:Report to Minister

34 The Chairperson of the Review Board shall, as soon as possible after March 31 in each year, submit to the Minister a report of the operations of the Review Board for the previous fiscal year and its recommendations, if any.

Financial

Marginal note:Grants and loans from moneys appropriated

35 The Minister may, out of moneys appropriated by Parliament for such purposes, make grants and loans to institutions and public authorities in Canada for the purchase of objects in respect of which export permits have been refused under this Act or for the purchase of cultural property situated outside Canada that is related to the national heritage.

Marginal note:Canadian Heritage Preservation Endowment Account established

• 36 (1) There shall be established in the accounts of Canada a special account to be known as the Canadian Heritage Preservation Endowment Account.

• Marginal note:Amounts to be credited to the Canadian Heritage Preservation Endowment Account

  (2) There shall be credited to the Canadian Heritage Preservation Endowment Account

  • (a) all moneys received by Her Majesty by gift, bequest or otherwise for the purpose of making grants to institutions and public authorities in Canada for the purchase of objects in respect of which export permits have been refused under this Act, or for the purchase of cultural property situated outside Canada that is related to the national heritage;

  • (b) all moneys received by Her Majesty as income on or as proceeds from the sale of any securities received by Her Majesty for a purpose referred to in paragraph (a); and

  • (c) an amount representing interest on the balance from time to time to the credit of the account at such rates and calculated in such manner as the Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, prescribe.

• Marginal note:Amounts that may be charged to the Canadian Heritage Preservation Endowment Account

  (3) There may be charged to the Canadian Heritage Preservation Endowment Account such amounts as the Minister may expend otherwise than under section 35 for grants to institutions and public authorities in Canada for the purchase of objects in respect of which export permits have been refused under this Act or for the purchase of cultural property situated outside Canada that is related to the national heritage.

Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and Its Protocols

Marginal note:Definitions

• 36.1 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.

  Convention

  Convention means the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, done at The Hague on May 14, 1954. Article 1 of the Convention is set out in the schedule. (convention)

  First Protocol

  First Protocol means the first protocol, done at The Hague on May 14, 1954, to the Convention. (premier protocole)

  Second Protocol

  Second Protocol means the second protocol, done at The Hague on March 26, 1999, to the Convention.  (deuxième protocole)

  State Party

  State Party means a state that is a party to the Convention and the First or Second Protocol. (État partie)

• Marginal note:Export or removal of cultural property

  (2) No person shall knowingly export or otherwise remove cultural property as defined in subparagraph (a) of Article 1 of the Convention from an occupied territory of a State Party to the Second Protocol, unless the export or removal conforms with the applicable laws of that territory or is necessary for the property’s protection or preservation.

• Marginal note:Offence outside Canada deemed in Canada

  (3) Despite anything in this Act or any other Act, a person who commits an act or omission outside Canada that if committed in Canada would constitute an offence under subsection (2), or a conspiracy or an attempt to commit such an offence, or being an accessory after the fact or counselling in relation to such an offence, is deemed to have committed that act or omission in Canada if the person

  • (a) is a Canadian citizen;

  • (b) is not a citizen of any state and ordinarily resides in Canada; or

  • (c) is a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and is, after the commission of the act or omission, present in Canada.

• Marginal note:Action for recovery of cultural property

  (4) If the government of a State Party submits a request in writing to the Minister for the recovery and return of any cultural property that has been exported from an occupied territory of that State Party and that is in Canada in the possession of or under the control of any person, institution or public authority, the Attorney General of Canada may institute an action in the Federal Court or in a superior court of a province for the recovery of the property by the State Party.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (5) Notice of the commencement of an action under this section on behalf of a State Party shall be served by the Attorney General of Canada on such persons and given in such manner as is provided by the rules of the court in which the action is taken, or, if the rules do not so provide, served on such persons and given in such manner as is directed by a judge of the court.

• Marginal note:Order for recovery of cultural property

  (6) The court in which an action has been taken under this section may, after affording all persons that it considers to have an interest in the action a reasonable opportunity to be heard, make an order for the recovery of the property in respect of which the action has been taken or any other order sufficient to ensure the return of the property to the State Party, if the court is satisfied that the property was exported in contravention of the applicable laws of the occupied territory of the State Party or was imported into Canada for its protection or preservation and that the amount fixed under subsection (7), if any, has been paid.

• Marginal note:Compensation

  (7) The court in which an action has been taken under this section may fix any amount that it considers just in the circumstances to be paid as compensation by the State Party to a person, institution or public authority that establishes to the satisfaction of the court that the person, institution or public authority is a bona fide purchaser for value or has a valid title to the property in respect of which the action has been taken and had no knowledge at the time the property was purchased or the title to the property was acquired that the property

  • (a) had been exported in contravention of the applicable laws of the occupied territory of the State Party; or

  • (b) had been imported into Canada for its protection or preservation.

• Marginal note:Safe-keeping

  (8) The court may, at any time in the course of an action under this section, order that the property in respect of which the action has been taken be turned over to the Minister for safe-keeping and conservation pending final disposition of the action.

• Marginal note:Permit to export

  (9) The Minister shall, on receipt of a copy of a court order made under subsection (6), issue a permit authorizing any person authorized by the State Party on behalf of which the action was taken to export the property in respect of which the order was made to that State.

• Marginal note:Limitations inapplicable

  (10) Section 39 of the Federal Courts Act does not apply in respect of any action taken under this section.

Foreign Cultural Property

Marginal note:Definitions

• 37 (1) In this section,

  cultural property agreement

  cultural property agreement, in relation to a foreign State, means an agreement between Canada and the foreign State or an international agreement to which Canada and the foreign State are both parties, relating to the prevention of illicit international traffic in cultural property; (accord)

  foreign cultural property

  foreign cultural property, in relation to a reciprocating State, means any object that is specifically designated by that State as being of importance for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art or science; (biens culturels étrangers)

  reciprocating State

  reciprocating State means a foreign State that is a party to a cultural property agreement. (État contractant)

• Marginal note:Illegal imports

  (2) From and after the coming into force of a cultural property agreement in Canada and a reciprocating State, it is illegal to import into Canada any foreign cultural property that has been illegally exported from that reciprocating State.

• Marginal note:Action for recovery of foreign cultural property

  (3) Where the government of a reciprocating State submits a request in writing to the Minister for the recovery and return of any foreign cultural property that has been imported into Canada illegally by virtue of subsection (2) and that is in Canada in the possession of or under the control of any person, institution or public authority, the Attorney General of Canada may institute an action in the Federal Court or in a superior court of a province for the recovery of the property by the reciprocating State.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (4) Notice of the commencement of an action under this section shall be served by the Attorney General of Canada on such persons and given in such manner as is provided by the rules of the court in which the action is taken, or, where the rules do not so provide, served on such persons and given in such manner as is directed by a judge of the court.

• Marginal note:Order for recovery of designated property

  (5) A court in which an action has been taken under this section on behalf of a reciprocating State may, after affording all persons that it considers to have an interest in the action a reasonable opportunity to be heard, make an order for the recovery of the property in respect of which the action has been taken or any other order sufficient to ensure the return of the property to the reciprocating State, where the court is satisfied that the property has been illegally imported into Canada by virtue of subsection (2) and that the amount fixed under subsection (6), if any, has been paid to or for the benefit of the person, institution or public authority referred to in that subsection.

• Marginal note:Compensation

  (6) Where any person, institution or public authority establishes to the satisfaction of the court in which an action under this section is being considered that the person, institution or public authority

  • (a) is a bona fide purchaser for value of the property in respect of which the action has been taken and had no knowledge at the time the property was purchased by him or it that the property had been illegally exported from the reciprocating State on whose behalf the action has been taken, or

  • (b) has a valid title to the property in respect of which the action has been taken and had no knowledge at the time such title was acquired that the property had been illegally exported from the reciprocating State on whose behalf the action has been taken,

  the court may fix such amount to be paid as compensation by the reciprocating State to that person, institution or public authority as the court considers just in the circumstances.

• Marginal note:Safe-keeping

  (7) The court may, at any time in the course of an action under this section, order that the property in respect of which the action has been taken be turned over to the Minister for safe-keeping and conservation pending final disposition of the action.

• Marginal note:Permit to export

  (8) The Minister shall, on receipt of a copy of an order of a court made under subsection (5), issue a permit authorizing any person authorized by the reciprocating State on behalf of which the action was taken to export the property in respect of which the order was made to that State.

• Marginal note:Limitations inapplicable

  (9) Section 39 of the Federal Courts Act does not apply in respect of any action taken under this section.

Designation of Cultural Property

Marginal note:Designation of cultural property

38 For the purposes of article 1 of the Convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property, any object included in the Control List is hereby designated by Canada as being of importance for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art or science.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

39 The Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, may make regulations

• (a) prescribing the information, documentation and undertakings to be furnished by applicants for permits and certificates under this Act, the procedures to be followed in applying for and in issuing those permits and certificates, the terms and conditions applicable to them and the duration of the permits;

• (b) prescribing the circumstances in which information may be required from persons to whom permits have been issued under this Act and the type of information that may be so required;

• (c) prescribing the purposes for which an object may be removed from Canada for a limited period of time for the purpose of paragraph 7(c) and the length of time for which it may be so removed; and

• (d) prescribing classes of manuscripts, original documents, archives, photographic positives and negatives, films and sound recordings for the purpose of section 14.