Jamaica petitions King Charles to ask privy council if transatlantic slavery was unlawful and if the UK owes reparations

The useful part

Jess Hurd/PA View image in fullscreen Olivia Grange, Jamaica's culture minister, has led a delegation to the UK to petition King Charles. The service on Sunday marked the anniversary of the 1781 Zong massacre, when more than 100 enslaved Africans were thrown overboard so the ship's owners could claim insurance for "lost cargo". Led by the culture minister, Olivia Grange, the Jamaican delegation included lawyers and members of the country's national council on reparations.

How it works

• The petition's very focus is to show that it was also clearly inconsistent with the law of the time.
• Grange also held talks with the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, though sources say these were not focused on reparations.
• View image in fullscreen Olivia Grange, Jamaica's culture minister, took part in a service at a Brixton church during her delegation's visit to London.
• Alberto Pezzali/AP Jamaica's petition has ignited a fierce debate about the legality of transatlantic slavery and political implications.
• The former privy council member Lord Sumption dismissed the legal strategy as "nonsense" and argued that the issue was "not a question of law at all" but one of morals and politics.

What to take from it

"We're meant to no longer be a group of countries under an empire. Harj Narulla, a member of the UK team of counsels, told the Guardian it was an "obvious jurisdictional route". "It was quite clear you can't do a judicial review, for example, of some government decision … The issue is with the state itself, with the United Kingdom, which is the state responsible for slavery in Jamaica," he said.

Example or evidence

• "Before we came to London, we had consulted with both the Palace and the privy council to confirm the correct legal process for filing the petition.
• Both confirmed the correct process was to file it by post and email, which is what we did," she said.
• Bell Ribeiro-Addy The Labour MP Bell Ribeiro‑Addy, the chair of the all‑party parliamentary group for Afrikan Reparations, said Jamaica was well within its rights to petition the monarch.
• "Due to colonialism, which obviously initially had its root in enslavement, there are certain responsibilities that [the UK] has.

Details worth keeping

Jamaican experts have defended the legality of the petition. Speaking at a briefing for UK parliamentarians, Edward Fitzgerald KC insisted Jamaica was acting in accordance with a little‑used mechanism in the Judicial Committee Act 1833 which allows the king to refer questions of "legal or constitutional nature" to the privy council when they cannot be resolved through ordinary courts. Non-Europeans did not suddenly become human when slavery ended.

Related coverage

• Thejournal: The petition asks the British monarch to refer three questions on the legality of the transatlantic slave trade to Jamaica's highest court of appeal based in London.
• Jamaicanews: Decades in the making, the September 7 filing brings a direct legal challenge against the British Crown for its ties to the slave system On September 7, 2026, a high-level Jamaican delegation delivered a...
• Jamaicanews: Decades in the making, the September 7 filing brings a direct legal challenge against the British Crown for its ties to the slave system On September 7, 2026, a high-level Jamaican delegation delivered a...
• Theguardian: Slavery's legacy continues 'to deprive our country and our people', says minister, as group prepares to appeal to Jamaica's head of state A landmark petition is to be handed to King Charles by Jamaica over...

Related details

• Jamaicanews: International News Business News Search News Network « Back to Home Why Jamaica's petition to King Charles is rattling Western capitals RT.com 09 Sep 2026, 18:49 GMT+ Decades in the making, the September 7...