A Jamaican government delegation will file a petition on slavery reparations with King Charles during a visit to London, marking the first time a Commonwealth state has used this legal route for reparatory justice.
The petition asks the King, as Jamaica’s head of state, to refer three questions about transatlantic chattel slavery to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which is the Caribbean island’s highest court of appeal.
The British monarch has authority under the Judicial Committee Act of 1833 to refer legal matters to the London-based Privy Council for an advisory opinion.
The Petition
The filing of the petition on Monday would be the first time a Commonwealth state has used this particular legal route “for the cause of reparatory justice,” the delegation said. The petition asks the King to refer questions about slavery to the Privy Council for an advisory opinion.
Olivia Grange MP, Jamaica’s minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport, who will lead the delegation, said: “The petition filing will be a milestone moment in Jamaica’s history. As members of the Commonwealth, our citizens are exercising their right to petition the King to ask him to refer the issue of slavery reparations to the Privy Council.”
The Context
The delegation also has a meeting with the British Museum to discuss “the repatriation of cultural artefacts taken from Jamaica.”
In recent years, the UK has said it will not pay to make amends for slavery, while Caribbean leaders have called for a formal apology and various measures including debt cancellations.
An estimated 12.5 million Africans were forcibly taken by European nations from the 16th to the 19th century. Those who survived the trip across the Atlantic were enslaved on plantations in the Caribbean and elsewhere under brutal conditions.
Events in London
A programme of events has been organised to coincide with the petition filing, including: an ecumenical church service “focused on remembrance, justice and repair” at the New Park Road Baptist Church in south London on Sunday; a political engagement event in Westminster on Monday and an event with the National Windrush Museum on Wednesday.
The Bigger Picture
A group of Caribbean leaders met senior clergy from the Church of England in July as the push for slavery reparations intensified. Earlier this year, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage defended his party’s proposal to block visa requests from a British Overseas Territory if its government demands slavery reparations.
Reform named Montserrat on a list of countries and territories from which the party would limit legal migration if their leaders continued to ask London to compensate for its role in the transatlantic slave trade.
The Bottom Line
Jamaica will file a historic petition with King Charles during a London visit, asking him to refer questions about slavery reparations to the Privy Council. It is the first Commonwealth state to use this legal route. The delegation also seeks the repatriation of cultural artefacts from the British Museum. The UK has previously said it will not pay reparations, while Caribbean leaders continue to push for apology and compensation.
