Jamaica will take its campaign for reparatory justice into a constitutional process on Monday, when a delegation led by Culture Minister Olivia Grange presents King Charles III with a petition concerning Britain’s historic role in slavery.
The petition asks the King, who is Jamaica’s head of state, to refer three questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Jamaica’s highest court of appeal. Jamaica says it is the first Commonwealth country to pursue reparatory justice through this legal route.
The proposed questions concern whether the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica was lawful under English law, whether it breached international law, and whether Britain has a legal obligation to provide redress. The petition does not seek a payment. It seeks judicial clarity on the legal status and consequences of the historical wrongs identified by Jamaica.
The outcome remains uncertain. King Charles has no personal discretion in deciding whether to make a referral, and it is unknown whether the questions will be sent to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Any eventual ruling, and any question of what redress could follow, would also remain to be determined.
Buckingham Palace has been working closely with the Governor-General of Jamaica to ensure that the petition is properly lodged. A Palace spokesperson said the King had expressed his personal and wholehearted commitment to promoting greater understanding around the issue of slavery and finding ways to address historic wrongs.
In a speech in 2024, the King said leaders should commit to ‘finding creative ways to right inequalities that endure’.
Grange said the petition could pave the way for a “long outstanding settlement for the hundreds of years of the most horrific abuse that our African ancestors endured”.
The petition comes against the background of Britain’s financial settlement at the end of slavery across most of the empire. When slavery was abolished in 1833, the British government paid £20m in compensation to slave owners. The loans raised to fund that £20m compensation were paid off in 2015.
Britain’s government has previously rejected reparations. David Cameron, then prime minister, ruled out reparations for Britain’s role in the historic slave trade during a visit to Jamaica in 2015. He said slavery was “abhorrent in all its forms”.
Jamaica’s approach places the issue before the court that remains its highest court of appeal, rather than presenting the petition as a direct financial claim. The three questions seek to establish whether the conduct in question was lawful and whether Britain has a duty to provide redress.
Grange’s visit to the UK will also cover the return of cultural property. She is due to meet officials at the British Museum to discuss the repatriation of artefacts taken during the colonial era. The outcome of those discussions is unknown.
The petition therefore brings two questions of colonial-era accountability into the same visit: the legal consequences of enslavement in Jamaica and the possible return of artefacts. Jamaica’s immediate request is for a referral. Whether that produces a judicial ruling, and whether other Commonwealth countries adopt a similar course, remains unclear.
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