The French law is classified as either private or public law with the first dealing with the relationships between individuals and the latter managing the relationships between the state and the individual. The private law is either civil, commercial or employment law whereas the public law is either criminal, administrative or constitutional law. Of interest, however, is the constitutional law which refers to the section of the public law that encompasses the imperative and universal rules. The constitutional law implies the principles through which the government can exercise its authority and includes the customary laws and the international rules and norms. For example, the power to tax is a particular authority of the government, and the constitutional law is what gives the government such power.

The French laws have experienced reforms, especially in the 21st century pertaining the importation and exportation of international art pieces, in 2000, 2002 and 2003. The laws that regulate the exportation and importation of these arts from other parts of the world have become controversial. This is because there are two imperatives that come with the reforms, a free international market and the need to preserve the patrimony of the nation. The Guimet museum is located in Paris, France and it is home to one of the largest collections of Asian arts. Therefore, the collectors for this museum are usually faced with the challenges that come with the legislations regarding the pieces of art and the controversies that come with the French legislation. The art collectors at times circulate freely the works of art and at other times forbade when it is necessary. There is an ongoing debate on whether the art materials from various collections have to be returned. It is indeed true that such aspects need to be considered and this paper discusses the reasons.

The Guimet museum as said earlier is a French museum housing one of the largest collections of Asian art pieces. It was founded by Émile Étienne Guimet in 1879 at Lyon and later on transferred to Paris. Guimet was a collector and travelled to the Far East on his mission to study the religions. The museum is indeed a sign of the various aspects of religion from the Asian side that he had the chance to study. As a collection, the museum has indeed faced challenges from the past and recent reforms in the legislations has tried to adapt to the changes that come with collection of art items. In the year 2000, the law clearly stipulated that the distinctions considered to be “les trésors nationaux” or those of national importance were excluded from exports. The law made a clear distinction of the cultural goods that were found in the country (Hoffman 197). This particular category, “les trésors nationaux” implied those goods found in the cultural section of the art collections. The national treasures as dictated by the law of 1913 and 1979 which classifies cultural products mean that they present interest to the national patrimony be it from history, art or archaeology. In any case, these goods of national interest were forbidden from being exported out of the nations. In the year 2000, the law was clear on national treasures, and this was not in favor of the art collectors at all. On the other hand, there was a category of arts that were not considered to be national treasures at all, but they had a clear link to history or archaeology. The Annex of the Decree of 29th January 1993 clearly stipulated that the objects could be temporarily exported as long as the interested party provides the certificate of export. These objects were monitored because they were considered to be potential national treasures and it was in the nation's best interest that they were protected and controlled at all costs. The final category was that the objects that were neither national treasures nor possible national treasures. They were allowed free circulation in the art market through the export and import controls. These objects were the ones that the art collectors could easily move around within the markets with little concern. Guimet as a collector back then was not bound by such laws and he could not be stopped from retrieving Asian historical objects from East. Among the items that are stored in the collection is the porcelain vase that depicts men fighting on horseback and a round sancai dish that dates back to the Tang dynasty a clear connection to the Chinese history. These objects are indeed important and display a clear-cut connection to the history of the Chinese implying that it is wrong for the French to possess these objects. In fact, they are national treasures as per the distinctions declared by the French legislation. National treasures are forbidden from leaving the country as the law provides the basis for a nation to protect its patrimony. On the other side, the 2001 law further complements the 2000 law where the reform protects the patrimony of the nation. The constitutional reforms have been made so that the nation can protect its origins concerning historical, artistic and archaeological materials. In this case, a collector cannot retrieve an object from France without verification of whether it is a national treasure or not. The national treasures are safeguarded within the borders through a variety of stipulated measures and the procedures for exporting and importing of the non-national treasures from the country has been eased with the 2001 reform. The permits can now be easily obtained via the Commission of National Treasure. To benefit the art collectors is the ability to achieve great prices from the international art market has been attained by the 2001 reform. Not only has the ability to circulate the artistic objects has been modified in order to ensure the free circulation of this objects but also the tax that controls the free circulation. The law has been designed with two imperatives that are quite controversial, ensuring the free circulation of the art objects and maintaining the national patrimony. The reduction of the tax and duties levied on the art objects, it is indeed the French’s duty to return the objects back to their original homelands. Particularly the Guimet’s collection of Asian objects should be returned to the Chinese and other communities as per the dictations of the French legislation. The tariff for importing and exporting these arts has been reduced to 5.5% in order to ensure that the objects can easily move around the various states (Hoffman 197).

The auctioneer’s statute implies the law that governs the auctioneering procedure for art and other objects. The process implies the selling the item to the highest bidder. The fact that art objects can be found and their eligibility of being considered national treasures verified imply that it can also be sold once they are determined to be qualified for export. They are sold but art demands that they are sold via auction. There is a permit that one must possess in order to be allowed to auction for the objects on sale. The eligibility of the auctioneer is determined including age and citizenship status. This is to ensure that illegal citizens cannot participate in the process and rather protect the bidders and their money. Therefore, the auctioneer’s statute, therefore, is an important legal process that is to be respected by the auctioneers and the art pieces’ sellers.

The French legislations in the category of the constitutional law is indeed meant and adapted to the international art market. The law has been reformed a number of times and the reason is to protect the origin of the nation and the second is to ensure that the art objects can be circulated freely in the world. The Guimet museum and the French government should act on their law and return the objects back to their owners rather than stick with them. The responsible legislators ensure that they protect their nation’s heritage and so they should protect the other nations’, and so they have tried to ensure that the law encompasses the two factors no matter how contradictory. The law reduced the import and export duty that is usually levied on art objects, and this implies that the objects can be circulated easily. The permits’ attainment has also been eased with the reforms and on would wonder whether the legislations by the French has been adapted to the international art market.

Hoffman, Barbara T. Art and Cultural Heritage: Law, Policy, and Practice. Cambridge [etc.: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Print.