Jamaica is set to formally petition King Charles on Monday over Britain’s role in the enslavement of Africans on the island, seeking legal clarity that could pave the way for reparations.
Culture Minister Olivia Grange said the petition will ask the King to refer three questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Jamaica’s highest court.
The questions will examine whether the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica was legal under English law, whether it violated international law, and whether Britain has a legal duty to provide redress.
Grange said the process 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, which is not itself a demand for payment, will be submitted to the King before being referred to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Grange said: “Once we get the answers, or once we get a response to those questions, then the next steps will be determined.”
Buckingham Palace said it has been working with Jamaica’s Governor General to ensure the petition is correctly lodged.
A Palace spokesperson said: “His Majesty has on many occasions expressed his personal and wholehearted commitment to promoting greater understanding around the issue of slavery and finding ways to address historic wrongs for the benefit of communities today.”
Grange will also meet British Museum officials to discuss the repatriation of artefacts taken from Jamaica during the colonial era.
She said: “They are priceless, they are significant to the story of Jamaica and we are working to bring them home.”
The British government paid £20 million to slave owners when slavery was abolished across most of the British Empire in 1833. The loans used to finance the compensation were fully repaid in 2015.
Grange said: “Up to 2015, Britain was paying the slave masters, because we were being considered property.
“The question really should be: if in modern times we're still paying back the slave masters for the property that was our people, our ancestors, for property that was because of the abolition of slavery, then why shouldn't we be pursuing some remedy at this time?”