Jamaica to petition UK king over slavery reparations in landmark legal test

A Jamaican government delegation visiting Britain is set to file a petition addressed to King Charles on Monday, raising the question of slavery reparations, Kingston’s culture ministry said.

Culture Minister Olivia Grange will lead the delegation “to advance Jamaica’s push for reparations for the African ancestors who suffered under hundreds of years of enslavement”, the ministry said in a statement.

The petition asks the king, who is Jamaica’s head of state, to refer three questions on the legality of the transatlantic slave trade to the Caribbean island’s highest court of appeal based in London.

The delegation says it is the first time a Commonwealth country has used this legal route to pursue the matter of reparations.

The British monarch has authority under the Judicial Committee Act of 1833 to refer legal matters to the London-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for an advisory opinion.

Grange said it was “intended to ensure the long outstanding settlement for the hundreds of years of the most horrific abuse that our African ancestors endured”.