Jamaica files slavery reparations petition with King Charles

On Sep 7, 2026

The petition will ask the monarch, as Jamaica’s head of state, to refer three questions about transatlantic chattel slavery to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which is the Caribbean island’s highest court of appeal.

The delegation said it also has a meeting with the British Museum to discuss “the repatriation of cultural artefacts taken from Jamaica”.

The delegation said the filing of the petition on Monday would be the first time a Commonwealth State has used this particular legal route “for the cause of reparatory justice”.

The King, who has a home in the Cotswolds, has authority under the Judicial Committee Act of 1833 to refer legal matters to the London-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for an advisory opinion.

In recent years, the UK has said it will not pay to make amends for slavery, while Caribbean leaders have called for a formal apology and various measures including debt cancellations.

An estimated 12.5 million Africans were forcibly taken by European nations from the 16th to the 19th century.

Those who survived the trip across the Atlantic Ocean were enslaved on plantations in the Caribbean and elsewhere under brutal conditions.

A programme of events has been organised to coincide with the petition filing, including an ecumenical church service “focused on remembrance, justice and repair”, at the New Park Road Baptist Church in south London on Sunday.

This will be followed by a political engagement event in Westminster on Monday and an event with the National Windrush Museum on Wednesday.

The delegation will be led by Olivia Grange MP, Jamaica’s minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport.

Ms Grange said: “The petition filing will be a milestone moment in Jamaica’s history.

“As members of the Commonwealth, our citizens are exercising their right to petition the King to ask him to refer the issue of slavery reparations to the Privy Council.

“We look forward to a positive programme of engagement around this issue.”

A group of Caribbean leaders met senior clergy from the Church of England in July, as the push for slavery reparations intensified.

Earlier this year, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage defended his party’s proposal to block visa requests from a British Overseas Territory if its government demands slavery reparations.

Reform named Montserrat on a list of countries and territories from which the party would limit legal migration if their leaders continued to ask London to compensate for its role in the transatlantic slave trade.

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