Today´s
news contains the latest information on the legal dispute between the Warburg
Institute and the University of London, which the research institution with its
extensive library has been associated with since 1944 (for the relevant
historical background, please see the press release below). The court has ruled
in favour of the Institute, but the University might still appeal.
The
disagreement on financial matters was constituted by two main points: Firstly,
the fact that the Institute has been running “a reported £500,000 annual deficit”1
for a number of years, and secondly, the result that the University of London
“more than doubled an estates charge on the institute in 2007-08”2.
Due to
the financial pressure put on the Institute, apprehensions have been expressed
that the approximately 350,000 volumes of the Warburg collection might be
divided up among the Senate House Library, a process which might also mean that
most volumes would cease to be available to researchers from all over the
world. Instead, a conventional “book-by-request” system would probably be
introduced. Furthermore, a court defeat might lead the relocation of the
collection to Germany or to the US1.
Taking
into account the Institute´s positive reaction to the court judgment, you may
be surprised to learn that the university claimed the “judge has found in
favour of the university on almost every point that was of importance to us”2.
Here, the spokesperson is referring to funding granted by the Higher Education
Funding Council for England which, as the judge decided, does not belong to
Warburg, but to the University alone.
(Sources:
PRESS
RELEASE
Warburg
Institute safe as High Court rules contents not the property of University of London
6th
November 2014
To the
benefit and relief of scholars worldwide, the High Court has rejected the
University of London’s claims that all additions to the Warburg Institute since
1944 belong to the University, and instead agreed that they form part of the
Institute. Furthermore, the judge, Mrs Justice Proudman, held that the
University is obliged to provide funding for the activities of the Warburg
Institute.
Leticia
Jennings of Bates Wells Braithwaite, who advised the Advisory Council of the
Warburg Institute, commented: “This decision ensures that the wealth of
important material housed within the Institute will remain available, as
before, in its entirety, and that the University will not be free to in any way
restrict the access of the many scholars who use and rely on the Institute’s
outstanding resources.”
The
Institute grew out of the private library of the art historian Aby Warburg
(1866-1929), who collected books in art history, literature, intellectual
history, religion and the history of science and magic. As a Jewish institution
based in Germany, the Institute was forced to close, and its very existence was
threatened by the Nazi-organised book-burnings of April 1933. To escape
destruction, the entire library of 60,000 books, as well as photographs, papers
and furniture, were shipped to the safe-haven of London in December 1933. Many
of the Institute’s staff also transferred to London.
After
years of negotiation involving members of the Warburg Family, the University of
London, distinguished scholars and philanthropists, the University of London
became trustee of the Warburg Institute, to hold it on charitable trust
pursuant to the terms of a 1944 Trust Deed*.The Institute has since grown into
a world class teaching and research institute, much respected and sought after
by academics worldwide.
The Trust
Deed obliges the University to maintain and preserve the Warburg library in
perpetuity, to house it, and to keep it adequately equipped and staffed as an
independent unit. Leticia Jennings stated: “The contemporaneous evidence
leading up to the signing of the Trust Deed shows that the transfer to the
University of London was on the condition that the University accepted these
obligations. This judgment has confirmed that the University must maintain the
Institute as ‘an independent unit’, and that the University is not entitled to
use the name and prestige associated with the Warburg Institute to obtain
funds, but to then apply those funds to the University’s general purposes.”
In recent
years the University had charged a proportion of its total estate expenditure
to the Warburg Institute, meaning that the once solvent Institute was left with
a significant deficit as it was used, in effect, to subsidise the University’s
corporate property. The judge held that the University’s conduct in this regard
is not permissible and “flies in the face” of the terms of Trust Deed.
The judge
also clarified the important role of the University in relation to housing the
Warburg Institute: whilst the University continues to own the building at
Woburn Square, it has a binding obligation to house the Institute in a suitable
building close to the University centre in Bloomsbury.
Despite
the judge’s clear ruling, following a very detailed review of the evidence, the
University has decided to seek permission to appeal.
In
response to the judgment, Librarian and Acting Director of the Institute, Dr
Raphaële Mouren, commented: “Whilst I am very pleased that this judgment
appears to mean that the intellectual resources of the Warburg Institute,
including its world renowned library, will be preserved for future generations
of scholars working in the humanities, I am very disappointed that the
University has decided to focus on an appeal. I very much hope it will
reconsider, and commit to working with us to strengthen the Institute for the
benefit of the academic community and enhancing our corpus of scholars.”
The
Chairman of the Advisory Council, Professor Margaret McGowan, commented: “The
Advisory Council was pleased to receive the judgment representing years of hard
work, and had hoped that the University would agree to enter into discussions
and begin to work together in the best interests of the Institute and the
University. We are frustrated that the University appears to wish to continue
to spend its time and money on furthering the legal dispute rather than find a
solution to secure the Warburg Institute’s long-term future. The Advisory
Council remains very grateful for the immense support it has received regarding
this matter, in particular from the American Friends of the Warburg Institute
and from The Polonsky Foundation, without whom its successful defence of the
matter would not have been possible.”
