Jamaica to seek Privy Council guidance on slavery reparations

Jamaica’s delegation to the United Kingdom plans to petition King Charles III for legal guidance on whether the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica was lawful under English and international law, and whether the UK has an obligation to provide a remedy.

The petition, to be led by Culture Minister Olivia Grange, would ask the king to refer the questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for an advisory opinion. Jamaica’s delegation said the proposed process would be the first use of this legal route by a British Commonwealth state for reparatory justice.

Buckingham Palace said it understood Jamaica was seeking a petition to be heard by the committee. It also said the king’s constitutional role as Jamaica’s head of state did not extend to deciding the substance of the claim.

The delegation will also seek talks with the British Museum over the possible repatriation of cultural artefacts taken from Jamaica.

Jamaica’s government estimates it is owed about $10 billion. The UK has repeatedly rejected calls for historical slavery reparations. Britain enslaved and forcibly transported an estimated 600,000 to 1 million Africans to Jamaica between the 17th and early 19th centuries, while the UK paid slave owners $27 million after abolishing slavery in 1833 and repaid related government debt in 2015.

Any advisory opinion would not itself establish that reparations must be paid. Jamaica’s government has said it wants answers to the legal questions before determining its next steps.