22 U.S.C. § 2459

Immunity from seizure under judicial process of cultural objects imported for temporary exhibition or display

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(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, educational, or religious institutions with the capacity to appropriately curate such object within the United States providing for temporary storage, conservation, scientific research, exhibition, or display within the United States at any cultural exhibition, assembly, activity, or festival administered, operated, or sponsored, without profit, by any such cultural, educational, or religious institution with the capacity to appropriately curate such object, 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 temporary storage, conservation, scientific research, exhibition, or display 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.

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.

(d) Imported and importation defined

For purposes of this section, the terms “imported” and “importation” include a transfer from a mission of a foreign country located within the United States to a cultural, educational, or religious institution located within the United States.

(Pub. L. 89–259, Oct. 19, 1965, 79 Stat. 985; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title XII, § 1216(a) Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3922.)Editorial NotesCodification

Section was not enacted as a part of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, which comprises this chapter.

Amendments

2021—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1216(a)(1), substituted “temporary storage, conservation, scientific research, exhibition, or display” for “temporary exhibition or display thereof” in two places, “cultural, educational, or religious institutions with the capacity to appropriately curate such object” for “cultural or educational institutions”, and “any such cultural, educational, or religious institution with the capacity to appropriately curate such object” for “any such cultural or educational institution”.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 116–283, § 1216(a)(2), added subsec. (d).

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesAfghanistan

Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title XII, § 1216(b), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3923, provided that:“(1)In general.—A work of art or other object of cultural significance that is imported into the United States for temporary storage, conservation, scientific research, exhibition, or display shall be deemed to be immune from seizure under such Act of October 19, 1965 (22 U.S.C. 2459) (as amended by subsection (a)), and the provisions of such Act shall apply in the same manner and to the same extent to such work or object, if—“(A) the work or object is exported from Afghanistan with an export permit or license duly issued by the Government of Afghanistan; and“(B)(i) an agreement is entered into between the Government of Afghanistan and the cultural, educational, or religious institution with the capacity to appropriately curate such object within the United States that specifies the conditions for such material to be returned to Afghanistan; or“(ii) the work or object is transferred to a cultural, educational, or religious institution with the capacity to appropriately curate such object in the United States in accordance with an agreement described in clause (i) that also includes an authorization to transfer such work or object to other such institutions in the United States.”

Executive DocumentsExecutive 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.]

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 12 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1998–2023 · leading case: Agudas Chasidei Chabad of United States v. Russian Fed'n, 798 F. Supp. 2d 260 (D.D.C. 2011).

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Agudas Chasidei Chabad of United States v. Russian Fed'n, 798 F. Supp. 2d 260 (D.D.C. 2011). · cites it 8× “That statement explains that the United States government has an interest in ensuring proper enforcement of 22 U.S.C. § 2459 (a), which immunizes from “any judicial process” art and other objects of “cultural significance” imported into the United States from any foreign *266…”

Malewicz v. City of Amsterdam, 362 F. Supp. 2d 298 (D.D.C. 2005). · cites it 4× “, and the Immunity from Seizure Act, 22 U.S.C. § 2459 (a), are critical to the analysis of the Court’s jurisdiction.”

In Re the Grand Jury Subpoena Duces Tecum Served on the Museum of Modern Art, 719 N.E.2d 897 (NY 1999). · cites it 4× “03 to the Federal Immunity from Seizure Act ( 22 USC § 2459 [a]), applicable to criminal and civil proceedings, lacks merit.”

Magness v. Russian Fed'n, 84 F. Supp. 2d 1357 (S.D. Ala. 2000). · cites it 3× “On the morning of January 28, 2000, the United States of America, intervened in these proceedings pursuant to 22 U.S.C. § 2459 (b). The United States opposes the petition on the ground that “the cultural artifacts that petitioners seek to attach are immune from seizure under…”

Ex Parte Nat'l W. Life Ins. Co., 899 So. 2d 218 (Ala. 2004). “") (emphasis added); 22 U.S.C. § 2459 (a) ("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 .”

Chabad v. Russian Fed'n, 915 F. Supp. 2d 148 (D.C. Cir. 2013). “2d at 270 -71 (citing 22 U.S.C. § 2459 ). Moreover, any lingering Russian anxieties about Chabad’s ability to attach these items should have been put to rest by this Court’s July 26, 2011 Order which, at Chabad’s request, incorporated an express prohibition on the attachment of…”

In re the Application to Quash Grand Jury Subpoena Duces Tecum, 177 Misc. 2d 985 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1998). · cites it 4× “Even if the New York law applies, the court must then decide if the Federal statute, the Immunity From Seizure Act, 22 USC § 2459 (the IFSA), preempts the State law with respect to works of art on loan from foreign countries.”

Agudas Chasidei Chabad of United States v. Russian Fed'n, 128 F. Supp. 3d 242 (D.D.C. 2015). “Such attachment and execution being subject to the provisions of 22 U.S.C. § 2459 , granting immunity from attachment or execution to property or interest that constitutes art, artifacts, or other cultural objects.”

In re the Grand Jury Subpoena Duces Tecum Served on the Museum of Modern Art, 253 A.D.2d 211 (N.Y. App. Div. 1999). “03 does not apply to a subpoena duces tecum issued as part of a criminal investigation, it is unnecessary to reach the issue of whether such statute is preempted by Federal law, specifically the Federal Immunity from Seizure Act ( 22 USC § 2459 ). Accordingly, the order of the…”

Agudas Chasidei Chabad of United States v. Russian Fed'n (D.D.C. 2011). · cites it 6× “§§ 1610 (a)(3), (b)(2) and is not protected by 22 U.S.C. § 2459 . Any application by Plaintiff for a Writ of Attachment .”

Brokerarte Capital Partners, LLC v. Detroit Inst. of Arts (E.D. Mich. 2023). “In 1965, Congress enacted the Immunity from Seizure Act (“Act”), 22 U.S.C. § 2459 , “[t]o assist and encourage cultural exchange” with other countries and their residents.”

Ex Parte Nat'l W. Life Ins. Co., 899 So. 2d 218 (Ala. 2004). “”) (emphasis added); 22 U.S.C. § 2459 (a) ("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 (emphasis added); Fed.”

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