Jamaica to file slavery reparations petition during UK visit

Petition to King Charles questions the legality of slavery under English law and UK’s responsibility for reparations.

Jamaica seeks UK legal ruling on slavery reparations

A Jamaican delegation to the United Kingdom has said it will file a petition addressed to King Charles III to seek legal guidance on the question of slavery reparations.

This is the first time a British Commonwealth state will use this legal route “for the cause of reparatory justice”, the Jamaican delegation said, as the visit to London kicks off Monday.

Jamaica’s Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport said its minister, Olivia Grange, will lead the delegation “to advance Jamaica’s push for reparations for the African ancestors who suffered under hundreds of years of enslavement”.

The ministry added that it will meet with the British Museum to discuss “the repatriation of cultural artefacts taken from Jamaica”.

The petition will ask the king, Jamaica’s head of state, to answer three questions on the transatlantic slave trade to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the Caribbean island’s highest court of appeal based in London.

Under the Judicial Committee Act of 1833, the UK monarch has the authority to refer legal matters to the court for an advisory opinion.

The questions include: whether the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica was legal under English common law, whether it violated international law, and whether the UK has a legal obligation to provide a remedy for the harm caused by slavery.

Jamaica’s Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Olivia Grange attends the AIPS and Laureus Press Celebration ‘Champions in Sport for Good’ during the 12th IAAF World Athletics Championships at Casa Italia, Hotel Ellington, on August 20, 2009, in Berlin, Germany [Mark Dadswell/Getty Images]

Grange said she would not speculate on whether Jamaica was asking the UK to pay reparations for the slave trade.

“We want the answers. Once we get the answers, or once we get a response to those questions, then the next steps will be determined,” she said.

“We understand the Jamaican government is seeking a petition to be heard before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said in response to Jamaica’s inquiry.

The palace acknowledged the king’s constitutional role in the petition as Jamaica’s head of state but said he had no role in deciding the substance of the claim.

British merchants enslaved and forcibly transported 600,000 to 1 million Africans to Jamaica between the 17th century and the early 19th century.

Shortly after abolishing slavery in 1833, the UK paid slave owners $27m in compensation, amounting to 40 percent of the Treasury’s annual income. To raise the cash, the government took out considerable loans, finally paying off its debts in 2015.

The Jamaican government estimates that the country is owed about $10bn, but the UK has repeatedly refused to pay for historical slavery.

致查理国王的请愿书质疑英国法律下奴隶制的合法性以及英国对赔偿的责任。

牙买加寻求英国就奴隶制赔偿问题作出法律裁决

牙买加代表团在前往英国的途中表示，他们将向英国国王查理三世递交请愿书，寻求有关奴隶制赔偿问题的法律指导。

牙买加代表团表示，这是英联邦国家首次利用这一法律途径“为实现赔偿正义”而采取行动。此次伦敦之行于周一拉开帷幕。

牙买加文化、性别、娱乐和体育部表示，该部部长奥利维亚·格兰奇将率领代表团“推进牙买加为遭受数百年奴役的非洲祖先争取赔偿的努力”。

该部还表示，将与大英博物馆会面，讨论“从牙买加掠夺的文化文物的归还问题”。

请愿书将要求牙买加国家元首国王向枢密院司法委员会（位于伦敦的加勒比海岛国最高上诉法院）回答有关跨大西洋奴隶贸易的三个问题。

根据 1833 年《司法委员会法》，英国君主有权将法律事务提交法院征求咨询意见。

这些问题包括：根据英国普通法，在牙买加奴役非洲人是否合法，是否违反国际法，以及英国是否有法律义务对奴隶制造成的伤害提供补救措施。

2009 年 8 月 20 日，牙买加青年、体育和文化部长奥利维亚·格兰奇在德国柏林卡萨意大利酒店埃灵顿厅出席了第 12 届国际田联世界田径锦标赛期间由 AIPS 和劳伦斯体育奖联合举办的“体育造福社会冠军”新闻庆祝活动。[Mark Dadswell/Getty Images]

格兰奇表示，她不会猜测牙买加是否要求英国为奴隶贸易支付赔偿金。

“我们想要答案。一旦我们得到答案，或者一旦我们得到这些问题的回应，下一步的行动就会确定，”她说。

白金汉宫发言人在回应牙买加的询问时表示：“我们了解到牙买加政府正在寻求向枢密院司法委员会提出申请，要求举行听证会。”

王室承认国王作为牙买加国家元首在请愿书中扮演宪法角色，但表示国王无权决定诉求的实质内容。

从 17 世纪到 19 世纪初，英国商人奴役并强行将 60 万至 100 万非洲人运往牙买加。

英国在1833年废除奴隶制后不久，向奴隶主支付了2700万美元的赔偿金，相当于财政部年收入的40%。为了筹集这笔资金，政府举借了大量贷款，最终在2015年还清了债务。

牙买加政府估计英国欠该国约 100 亿美元，但英国一再拒绝为历史上的奴隶制支付赔偿金。