Claims and restitutions of public archives

Every year, the state reintegrates into public collections dozens of archival documents that have been diverted from them at more or less old periods. This reinstatement, carried out at the end of a “claim” (legal term adopted by the Heritage Code, [Articles L112-22 and 23](https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/section_lc/LEGITEXT000006074236/LEGISCTA000035105125/#LEGISCTA000035105128)) conducted to a private holder (professional or private), has a dual purpose: guarantee the integrity of cultural property belonging to the State and the access of all to this national historical heritage. This practice is legally based on the principles of [inalienability, imprescriptibility](https://francearchives.fr/article/235244911) and the elusiveness of assets belonging to the public domain, recalled in the codes of heritage, property of public persons and local authorities. As regards the management of archives, three administrations are authorised to act in this field: the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Armed Forces each for their own perimeter, and the Ministry of Culture for all other ministerial sectors. In the interests of transparency, the purpose of the Claims Observatory is to report on public archival claims policy. This dataset aggregates all the data relating to requests for restitution from holders made in 2021.Note that the data from the Ministry of the Armed Forces are not yet complete, some of which are not provided. Details of the indicators (date of the action or sale, number of lots involved, description, types of documents, relevant periods, training services and recipients and outcome of the action) are available in the Annex (downloadable via the Export tab). Find out more about the observatory of public archives restitutions (national portal FranceArchives: [Observatoire des restitutions d’archives publics (FranceArchives))](https://francearchives.fr/section/672908641/). Learn more about the analysis of the data of the interministerial observatory of restitutions 2021 (national portal FranceArchives: [Analysis of data from the interministerial observatory of restitutions 2021 (FranceArchives](https://francearchives.fr/fr/article/668625793))).