Does the UK have a legal obligation to redress the harms of slavery?

Jamaica petitions the British monarch over questions about the legality of the transatlantic slave trade.

Jamaica’s campaign for reparations from the United Kingdom is part of a broader push for countries to pay for their roles in the transatlantic slave trade and hundreds of years of slavery.

Momentum is building. In March, a United Nations resolution said the claims represent a step towards a remedy for the descendants of enslaved people. Most Western countries abstained from the vote, and the United States opposed it.

In June, African and Caribbean nations met in Ghana – where hundreds of thousands of people were forced onto slave ships. They put together a plan for reparatory justice, which would include debt relief and other support for African nations.

Last month, a UN committee said governments are obliged by law to consider paying damages.

Hilary Beckles – vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies and chairman of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Reparations Commission

Lawrence Goldman – emeritus fellow in history at St Peter’s College, University of Oxford, and former editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Patrick Vernon – British historian and social commentator knighted in 2026 for his services to racial equality and social justice