THE backlash came quickly after Jamaica filed its reparations petition, with critics questioning the decision to approach the King and some framing the move as Jamaica going cap in hand to Britain for money.

But Culture Minister Olivia Grange is drawing a sharp distinction between seeking payment and seeking a legal ruling, saying the petition contains no monetary claim and instead asks the Privy Council to determine three fundamental questions arising from the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica.

And with King Charles III having referred those questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Grange announced that the matter has now moved into a new phase, with Attorney General Dr Derrick McKoy set to lead Jamaica’s case as the country awaits directions from the court on the next steps.

The minister made the clarification during Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, one day after she told Parliament that the King had agreed to refer the petition to the Privy Council.

The petition, filed in London on September 7, asks the King, in his capacity as Jamaica’s head of State, to refer questions concerning the legality of transatlantic chattel slavery to the Judicial Committee. Jamaica is using Section 4 of the Judicial Committee Act 1833 as the legal basis for the request.

Grange said the Government’s objective is not to negotiate a payment with Britain.

“It is a legal petition. It is not an interstate negotiation or a demand for payment. It asks legal questions that must be determined by our highest court,” she said.

According to Grange, the three questions concern whether the seizure, forced transportation, and enslavement of Africans as chattel in Jamaica was ever lawful under English law; whether those practices breached international law; and whether the United Kingdom has a legal obligation to provide a reparatory remedy to the people of Jamaica.

The distinction is important because the filing has generated criticism both over its substance and the route chosen by the Government.

Attorney Gordon Robinson, writing in a column for The Gleaner after the petition was filed, described Jamaica as having gone “cap in hand” to the King, and questioned why the country was using the Privy Council rather than pursuing a case through an international court.

Former Privy Council judge Lord Sumption also criticised the legal strategy, while Jamaican lawyer Bert Samuels, deputy chairman of the National Council on Reparations and a member of the team that formulated the petition, defended it and described Jamaica’s case as “enormously strong”.

Grange said the petition is rooted in the history of the estimated 1.2 million Africans who were transported to Jamaica to be enslaved as chattel, arguing that their treatment involved the denial of their status as human beings and their classification as property.

She said the legal route was developed after years of discussion within Jamaica’s reparations movement, and identified attorney Frank Phipps as the person who developed the idea of using Section 4 of the 1833 legislation to ask the King to refer the questions to the Privy Council.

She also stressed that the initiative has regional backing. Caricom leaders gave broad support to Jamaica’s plan to petition the King, at the regional heads of government meeting in July 2025, while Grange said letters of support from the Caricom chair, other Caribbean leaders, and the president of Ghana were included in the petition.

Grange said the attorney general will now handle the legal proceedings and that Jamaica is confident in its case, although the eventual outcome remains to be determined by the legal process.

“We are the hottest thing right now. Jamaica’s petition will hopefully change the tone and the narrative around reparatory justice. The issue has been characterised as extremely emotive.We hope that this legal process, which requires presentation of facts and evidence, will force the people of the world to confront the full truth about chattel enslavement and its continuing harmful effects on Africans and people of African descent. Whatever the outcome, ladies and gentlemen, you can be proud of Jamaica,” she expressed.