Palmanova Pty Ltd v Commonwealth of Australia [2023] FCA 1391

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Palmanova Pty Ltd v Commonwealth of Australia [2023] FCA 1391 File number: NSD 571 of 2021

Judgment of: PERRAM J

Date of judgment: 14 November 2023

Catchwords: CULTURAL HERITAGE – application under s 37 of the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986 (Cth) ('the Act') for recovery of Artefact seized by Commonwealth – whether Artefact liable to forfeiture under s 14(1) of the Act. CULTURAL HERITAGE – whether Artefact a 'protected object of a foreign country' – whether Artefact part of the movable cultural heritage of Bolivia – whether Artefact made by the Tiwanaku civilisation in the first millennium AD – whether Artefact made at city of Tiwanaku in modern day Bolivia – where Bolivian law prohibited removal of objects from monumental ruins at Tiwanaku and Lake Titicaca after 1906 – whether Artefact exported from Bolivia after 1906. EVIDENCE – burden of proof in civil case – where multiple competing hypotheses – where events traverse 1500 years of human history. PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – nature and purpose of a civil trial – relevance of ascertainment of absolute truth. STATUTORY INTERPRETATION – proper construction of s 14(1) of the Act – meaning of 'has been imported' in s 14(1)(a) of the Act – temporal implications of use of present perfect tense instead of past tense.

Legislation: Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth) ss 15AB(1)(b)(i), 15AB(2) Customs Act 1901 (Cth) s 203T Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) ss 140(1), 140(2) Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986 (Cth) ss 3, 14, 14(1), 14(1)(a), 14(1)(b), 14(1)(c), 14(2), 27, 34, 37, 37(3)(b) Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, opened for signature 14 November 1970, 823 UNTS 231 (entered into force 24 April 1972) Art 7 Cultural Property Export and Import Act 1975 (Can) s 31(2)