London Declaration
With the so-called London Declaration of January 5, 1943, also known as the Allied Declaration (in full: " Allied declaration on acts of expropriation of January 5, 1943 in the areas occupied by the enemy or under his control "), the 18 signatory states warned all in particular also those residing in neutral countries, before buying confiscated property.
The signatory states reserved the right to annul any transfer or alienation of property, assets, rights and interests that take place in the areas occupied or controlled by the enemy states. Even if such transfers or disposals were made in the form of apparently lawful transactions or were made without any compulsion, they will be declared null and void.
Controversial legitimation
The London Declaration was the basis for the restitution regulations of the Allied occupying powers in Germany. This practice was unanimously rejected in the German legal literature of the post-war years. While some lawyers tried to prove the illegality of the actions of the occupying powers on the basis of the London Declaration and the military legislation, others rejected the international legal legitimacy of the restitution laws such as B. Military Government Law No. 59 .
A legal basis that is acceptable under international law for the goods restituted by private individuals could have been regulated in a formal peace treaty . The reversal of the burden of proof in restitution issues, in which an acquirer has to prove that the thing was acquired without force or coercion, was sharply criticized . It was also controversial whether a bona fide purchaser could assert claims against the seller after the restitution.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. Wilfried Fiedler : The Allied (London) Declaration (accessed on March 31, 2009)