In Switzerland, since the signing of the Washington Declaration in 1998, the lack of uniform standards has resulted in an essentially amorphous and contourless decision-making practice that has not yet been the subject of in-depth research. At the same time, the implementation of the Declaration has been the subject of intense debate for a number of years and now once again on the occasion of the creation of the Commission for Historic Cultural Heritage at the turn of 2024. Following a comprehensive survey and analysis of Swiss restitution practice since December 1998, the author is able to derive key decision-making parameters. She pays particular attention to the central concept of fugitive property in Switzerland.

Hannah Lehmann, law scholar, Bonn, studied law at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn from 2013-2019; since 2020, research assistant in the project "Restatement of Restitution Rules", University of Bonn; since October 2023, legal trainee, Regional Court Bonn