Law, crime and regulation

Dealers Alastair Gibson and Laura Bordignon have taken an advertisement in this week’s Antiques Trade Gazette calling on the trade to petition the government to widen the ‘de minimus’ exemption for antique ivory objects in a forthcoming law that will restrict their trade.

The hearing in the case of two men accused of a massive US library theft has been postponed until October 12.

Eight Sumerian antiquities seized by the Metropolitan Police from a London dealer in 2003 are to be returned to Iraq after identification by the British Museum.

A rare Islamic manuscript consigned to a Bonhams auction in London has been returned to Egypt in the latest example of Egyptian authorities succeeding in retrieving artefacts from abroad.

The European Union’s plan to introduce new laws on the import of cultural goods, due to be voted on this summer, has been delayed until September.

British biotech entrepreneur Sir Christopher Evans has offered a “substantial reward” to help recover £1m worth of antiques, jewellery and silver stolen in a raid on his home in Gloucestershire.

High-profile London book dealers Peter Harrington and Maggs Bros have been left out of pocket after an alleged $8m rare books theft from Carnegie Library in the US.

A table used by novelist Charles Dickens is at risk of being exported from the UK unless a buyer can be found to match the asking price of £67,600.

The owner of a rediscovered early Renaissance painting has been blocked from taking the work to Switzerland after a High Court judge rejected her claim over the granting of an export licence.

A US book dealer has resigned from The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) following charges being made against him in connection with the theft of $8m of books from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

A Persian limestone relief sculpture is to be returned to Iran, a New York court has ruled.