Jamaica has announced plans to petition King Charles III, requesting that the monarch refer three legal questions regarding the transatlantic slave trade to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. As Jamaica’s head of state, the King presides over the committee, which serves as the island nation’s highest court of appeal in London.
Culture Minister Olivia Grange is leading the delegation for what officials describe as a historic move. The Caribbean nation aims to become the first Commonwealth country to utilize this specific legal pathway to pursue reparatory justice for the suffering of African ancestors during centuries of enslavement.
The petition seeks clarity on three key points: whether the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica was lawful under English law at the time, whether it violated international law, and whether Britain currently holds a legal duty to provide redress. Grange emphasized that the government wishes to obtain answers to these legal questions before determining subsequent steps.
Highlighting historical financial injustices, Grange pointed to the £20 million (approximately €23.28 million) paid by Britain to slave owners following the abolition of slavery in 1833. She noted that these payments, which included interest, continued until 2015. “The question really should be: if in modern times we’re still paying back the slave masters for the property that was our people… then why shouldn’t we be pursuing some remedy at this time?” she said.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson stated that the King is committed to promoting understanding of slavery and addressing historic wrongs. However, the British government has previously maintained that it will not pay slavery reparations, even as other Caribbean nations have called for apologies and debt relief.
In addition to the legal petition, the Jamaican delegation will hold discussions with officials at the British Museum regarding the repatriation of colonial-era artifacts. The move comes against a backdrop of ongoing global debate, including a recent UN General Assembly resolution recognizing the transatlantic slave trade as the gravest crime against humanity, which the UK and EU abstained on while the US voted against.
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