Jamaica is testing a new legal route in its long-running campaign for slavery reparations, asking Britain’s monarch to put key questions before the Privy Council.
Issued on: 07/09/2026 - 14:16Modified: 07/09/2026 - 14:51
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A Jamaican government delegation is set to submit a petition to King Charles III in London on Monday as the Caribbean nation steps up its campaign for reparations over slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. Culture Minister Olivia Grange is leading the delegation, which Jamaica's culture ministry said would seek to "advance Jamaica's push for reparations for the African ancestors who suffered under hundreds of years of enslavement". The petition asks the king, who remains Jamaica's head of state, to refer three legal questions concerning slavery to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the London-based body that remains Jamaica's highest court of appeal. The delegation says it is the first time a Commonwealth country has sought to use this legal route to pursue the question of reparations. Grange said the initiative was "intended to ensure the long outstanding settlement for the hundreds of years of the most horrific abuse that our African ancestors endured". Ghana backs Jamaica's petition to push UK for slavery reparations A new legal route Jamaica is seeking an advisory opinion on three questions – whether the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica was legal under English law, whether it violated international law, and whether Britain now has a legal duty to provide redress. The move does not itself seek a specific financial settlement but could provide a legal basis for wider discussions over reparations and Britain's historical responsibility for slavery. Buckingham Palace acknowledged the petition ahead of the delegation's visit. "We understand the Jamaican government is seeking a petition to be heard before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council," a palace spokesman said.
