牙买加官方代表团在伦敦向英国国王查尔斯三世提交请愿书，要求其向枢密院寻求法律意见，以解决三个关键问题：非洲人被强制运往牙买加是否具有法律效力、该行为是否构成反人类罪，以及英国是否有义务提供赔偿1。由牙买加文化部长奥利维亚·甘奇率领的代表团包括律师和国家赔偿委员会成员1。该请愿得到加勒比其他国家领导人的支持1。
这一法律策略引发了激烈争议。前枢密院成员萨姆普顿勋爵批评该举措为"荒谬"，主张奴隶制赔偿问题属于道德和政治范畴而非法律范畴1。然而，牙买加律师爱德华·菲茨杰拉德为这一路线进行了辩护，指出其符合1833年《司法委员会法》的规定，该法允许国王在常规法院无法解决时就"法律或宪法性质"的问题进行提交1。英国政府发言人重申了其一贯立场，即"英国不会也不会支付赔偿"1。
值得注意的是，2024年12月，牙买加政府曾提交议案以移除国王作为国家元首的地位，但该议案尚未成为法律1。国际层面，123个联合国成员国投票支持将奴隶制描述为最严重的反人类罪1。
A Jamaican official delegation submitted a petition in London calling on King Charles III to seek legal counsel from the Privy Council regarding slavery reparations 1. The petition raises three specific legal questions: whether the forced transportation of Africans to Jamaica was lawful, whether it constitutes a crime against humanity, and whether Britain bears a duty to provide compensation 1.
The delegation, led by Jamaica's Culture Minister Olivia Grange and including lawyers and members of the national reparations commission, defended the legal mechanism despite significant controversy 1. Jamaican attorney Edward Fitzgerald argued that the approach aligns with the Judicial Committee Act of 1833, which permits the sovereign to submit questions of a "legal or constitutional nature" to the Privy Council when ordinary courts cannot resolve them 1. The petition has garnered support from leaders of other Caribbean nations 1. However, Lord Sampson, a former member of the Privy Council, criticized the legal strategy as "absurd," characterizing slavery reparations as moral and political matters rather than legal ones 1. The British government reiterated its position that "the UK will not and will not be paying reparations" 1.
In parallel developments, Jamaica's government submitted legislation in December 2024 to remove the King as head of state, though this measure has not yet become law 1. At the international level, 123 United Nations member states voted to describe slavery as the most serious crime against humanity 1.
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