Vacant lands (bona vacantia) and heirless property (bona caduca) both escheated to the emperor.

Looking back, one finds it doubtful whether Sweden can be said, in a formal sense, to have honoured its commitment under the Washington agreement in the matter of heirless property.

Other unclaimed assets in banks As regards unclaimed assets in Swedish banks other than heirless property, the guiding principle must be for the depositors or their successors to be provided for in the best possible way.

At the end of the reporting period, there had been no restitution of Jewish communal and heirless properties confiscated or nationalized during and after World War II.

However, some religious groups--including the Lutheran, Orthodox Christian, and Jewish communities--continued to claim additional communal and heirless properties.

Following 2 years of negotiations, the Deputy Prime Minister's office drafted a proposal of compensation for heirless property owned by Jewish families before the Holocaust.

The Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission actively lobbied members of the Government to expedite the work of the Joint Commission on resolving the questions of heirless property taken from Holocaust victims.

Also, there are no legal provisions to address "heirless properties" left by victims of the Holocaust.

In addition, the new Restitution Law states that the issue of heirless properties will be addressed by a separate law.

The country's Restitution Law states that a separate law, not yet drafted, will address heirless properties.

Countries should also consider a variety of creative mechanisms that can provide assistance to needy survivors, including special pensions and social security pensions to non-residents; and the use of assets from heirless property.

In almost all European countries, heirless property reverts to the state.

During the period covered by this report, the 2002 compensation package between the Government and the Jewish community for heirless property owned by Jewish families before the Holocaust was completed.

There was no further progress on restitution for either communal or heirless properties.

Many Jewish communal and heirless properties were also either confiscated or nationalized during and after World War II.

But the most significant way to provide funds for social needs in those countries which have heirless property is to use a significant portion for survivors; nothing would better honor the victims than to know that their property is being used for their surviving kinsfolk.

We note that in some states heirless property could serve as a basis for addressing the material necessities of needy Holocaust (Shoah) survivors and to ensure ongoing education about the Holocaust (Shoah), its causes and consequences.

States may wish to consider using a variety of additional means to support such education, including heirless property where appropriate.

This is why recent international meetings on Holocaust-era assets have put the use of heirless property to provide social and medical support to aging and indigent Holocaust survivors high on the agenda as well.

However, administrative and judicial processes continued to slow resolution of the 2,579 remaining cases, including cases brought by foreigners and cases involving Jewish communal and heirless properties.

Some property restitution cases remained unresolved; however, the Government compensated the Jewish community $29.3 million (850 million SKK) for heirless property owned by Jewish families before the Holocaust.