§ 2459. — Immunity from seizure under judicial process of cultural objects imported for temporary exhibition or display.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 22USC2459]
TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE
CHAPTER 33--MUTUAL EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM
Sec. 2459. Immunity from seizure under judicial process of
cultural objects imported for temporary exhibition or display
(a) Agreements; Presidential determination; publication in Federal
Register
Whenever any work of art or other object of cultural significance is
imported into the United States from any foreign country, pursuant to an
agreement entered into between the foreign owner or custodian thereof
and the United States or one or more cultural or educational
institutions within the United States providing for the temporary
exhibition or display thereof within the United States at any cultural
exhibition, assembly, activity, or festival administered, operated, or
sponsored, without profit, by any such cultural or educational
institution, no court of the United States, any State, the District of
Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States may issue
or enforce any judicial process, or enter any judgment, decree, or
order, for the purpose or having the effect of depriving such
institution, or any carrier engaged in transporting such work or object
within the United States, of custody or control of such object if before
the importation of such object the President or his designee has
determined that such object is of cultural significance and that the
temporary exhibition or display thereof within the United States is in
the national interest, and a notice to that effect has been published in
the Federal Register.
(b) Intervention of United States attorney in pending judicial
proceedings
If in any judicial proceeding in any such court any such process,
judgment, decree, or order is sought, issued, or entered, the United
States attorney for the judicial district within which such proceeding
is pending shall be entitled as of right to intervene as a party to that
proceeding, and upon request made by either the institution adversely
affected, or upon direction by the Attorney General if the United States
is adversely affected, shall apply to such court for the denial,
quashing, or vacating thereof.
(c) Enforcement of agreements and obligations of carriers under
transportation contracts
Nothing contained in this section shall preclude (1) any judicial
action for or in aid of the enforcement of the terms of any such
agreement or the enforcement of the obligation of any carrier under any
contract for the transportation of any such object of cultural
significance; or (2) the institution or prosecution by or on behalf of
any such institution or the United States of any action for or in aid of
the fulfillment of any obligation assumed by such institution or the
United States pursuant to any such agreement.
(Pub. L. 89-259, Oct. 19, 1965, 79 Stat. 985.)
Codification
Section was not enacted as a part of the Mutual Educational and
Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, which comprises this chapter.
Executive Order No. 11312
Ex. Ord. No. 11312, Oct. 14, 1966, 31 F.R. 13415, which related to
the delegation of functions to the Secretary of State, was revoked by
Ex. Ord. No. 12047, Mar. 27, 1978, 43 F.R. 13359, set out below.
Ex. Ord. No. 12047. Imported Objects of Cultural Significance
Ex. Ord. No. 12047, Mar. 27, 1978, 43 F.R. 13359, as amended by Ex.
Ord. No. 12388, Oct. 14, 1982, 47 F.R. 46245, provided:
By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Act of October 19,
1965, entitled ``An Act to render immune from seizure under judicial
process certain objects of cultural significance imported into the
United States for temporary display or exhibition, and for other
purposes'' (79 Stat. 985, 22 U.S.C. 2459), and as President of the
United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. The Director of the United States Information Agency is
designated and empowered to perform the functions conferred upon the
President by the above-mentioned Act and shall be deemed to be
authorized, without the approval, ratification, or other action of the
President, (1) to determine that any work of art or other object to be
imported into the United States within the meaning of the Act is of
cultural significance, (2) to determine that the temporary exhibition or
display of any such work of art or other object in the United States is
in the national interest, and (3) to cause public notices of the
determinations referred to above to be published in the Federal
Register.
Sec. 2. The Director of the United States Information Agency, in
carrying out this Order, shall consult with the Secretary of State with
respect to the determination of national interest, and may consult with
the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the Director of the
National Gallery of Art, and with such other officers and agencies of
the Government as may be appropriate, with respect to the determination
of cultural significance.
Sec. 3. The Director of the United States Information Agency is
authorized to delegate within the Agency the functions conferred upon
him by this Order.
Sec. 4. Executive Order No. 11312 of October 14, 1966 is revoked.
Sec. 5. Any order, regulation, determination or other action which
was in effect pursuant to the provisions of Executive Order No. 11312
shall remain in effect until changed pursuant to the authority provided
in this Order.
Sec. 6. This Order shall be effective on April 1, 1978.
[For abolition of United States Information Agency (other than
Broadcasting Board of Governors and International Broadcasting Bureau),
transfer of functions, and treatment of references thereto, see sections
6531, 6532, and 6551 of this title.]
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 2611 of title 19.
