The Jamaican government is enlisting King Charles to help get its demand for slavery reparations heard at the highest level.
The monarch has been approached to push the demand to the judicial committee of the Privy Council, the final court of appeal for UK overseas territories and some Commonwealth nations.
The move by Jamaica follows similar demands now being made across the Commonwealth.
Under the Judicial Committee Act of 1833, the king, who remains Jamaica’s head of state after the country gained independence from Britain in 1962, has the authority to refer matters to the council for consideration, the Guardian reports, adding:
Jamaica’s culture minister, Olivia Grange, said her government was asking the council to consider whether the forced transport of enslaved Africans to Jamaica and their subsequent enslavement was lawful, and if it constituted a crime against humanity.
It is also calling on the council to examine whether Britain is “under an obligation to provide a remedy” to Jamaica, not only for slavery but also for its enduring consequences.
“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 of Jamaica,” Grange said in the Jamaican parliament on Tuesday, the Guardian report adds.
King Charles expressed deep sorrow over the trans-Atlantic slave trade during a speech to Commonwealth leaders in 2022 but Britain, like other former colonial powers, has so far rejected demands for reparations.
Opponents of reparations argue contemporary states and institutions should not be held responsible for their past.
Britain has previously rejected calls for reparations even as the United Nations has added its voice to the call.
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