Jamaica turns to the King in fight for slavery reparations
29 June 2025, 12:55 | Updated: 29 June 2025, 13:03
Jamaica has submitted a petition asking King Charles to refer three "legal questions" regarding historical slavery to the Privy Council.
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Officials from the Jamaican government will take the nation's fight for slavery reparations to King Charles, claiming attempts to seek compensation for historical wrongs have entered "another phase."
Three "legal questions" will be submitted for the King to take to the Privy Council, a formal body made up of mostly senior politicians who advise the sovereign on the exercise of the royal prerogative.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the highest court of appeal for the independent Commonwealth realms which retain the King as their head of state.
The three questions relate to the forced transportation and subsequent enslavement of African people taken to Jamaica. One questions asks if the UK has "obligation to provide a remedy to the Jamaican people."
Olivia Grange, Jamaica’s minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport, said: “We are taking our demand for reparations from the United Kingdom for the enslavement of our African ancestors into another phase."
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"We will be submitting a petition to His Majesty King Charles III to refer to the Privy Council a set of questions that we want answered within his current position as head of state for Jamaica.”
Announcing the move in the House of Representatives, Grange said that “the matter is now with the attorney-general of Jamaica for filing on behalf of the people of Jamaica”.
In recent years, the UK has faced increased calls from Commonwealth leaders to pay reparations for the country’s historical role in the slave trade, which have been rebuffed by successive governments. Reparations could take many forms, ranging from financial to symbolic.
Jamaica set up its National Committee of Reparations in 2009.
The submission to the Privy Council ramps up the pressure of their campaign for reparations. Ministers said that the submission to the King was a “legal approach”, separate from ongoing political discussions about reparations.
At the last Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Samoa in 2024, countries said that the “time had come” for a proper conversation regarding reparations.
In a speech to member states, King Charles suggested that “dialogue” and other “creative” solutions could be found to address the issue.
