British Museum Act 1963

The British Museum Act 1963 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaced the British Museum Act 1902. It was introduced by the second ministry of the Conservative Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. The act forbids the British Museum and the Natural History Museum from disposing of their holdings, except in a small number of special circumstances. In May 2005 a judge of the High Court of England and Wales ruled that Nazi-looted Old Master artworks held at the British Museum could not be returned.
The act also made the Natural History Museum an independent organisation from the British Museum, with its own board of trustees.

Provisions

Repealed enactments

Section 13 of the act repealed 18 enactments, listed in the fourth schedule to the act.

Short title, commencement and extent

Section 13 of the act provided that the act may be cited as the "British Museum Act 1963".
Section 13 of the act provided that the act would come into force on a day appointed by the Treasury by statutory instrument.
Section 1 of the provided that the act would come into force on 30 September 1963.