KINGSTON, Jamaica, Oct 21, CMC – A preliminary hearing date has been set in March next year, for the hearing of a petition before the United Kingdom- based Privy Council filed on behalf of the people of Jamaica on the legality of chattel slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.
Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Minister Olivia Grange, said that the hearing is set for March 8, 2027 for the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to begin hearing the petition that had been referred by Britain’s King Charles after he had received the document from Kingston earlier this year.
Grange, referring to information from the Registrar of the Privy Council, noted that the respondent, representing the United Kingdom government, had until November 20, 2026, to file its case.
On September 7, this year, Jamaica filed a petition with King Charles seeking the referral of certain issues of significant importance concerning enslavement to the Privy Council for determination.
Beginning in the mid-17th century, an estimated 15.4 million Africans were forcibly captured and transported across the Atlantic over more than three centuries. Records indicate that 1.2 million of them were transported to Jamaica and subjected to enslavement, primarily on sugar plantations.
Jamaica’s petition seeks a determination from the Privy Council on whether the capture, transportation and enslavement of Africans in Jamaica were ever lawful under English law; whether these acts constituted a breach of international law; and whether the United Kingdom owes the people of Jamaica a reparatory remedy.
CMC/2026