Great store has recently been placed throughout the Caribbean in Jamaica making a petition to King Charles seeking a legal opinion from the Judicial Committee of his Privy Council on several questions relating to reparations for slavery.
Morality or political correctness has no business descending into the realm of the judiciary or worse the theater of the absurd.
It beggars belief that so many well thinking people have been blinded by what amounts to a fool’s errand for what is clearly and demonstrably a historical wrong and ancient debt in need of a decision of how much and when.
It amounts to diplomatic pussyfooting not a realistic effect to what is and should be a remedial timetable.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is an appeal court now turned into advisors to King Charles by persons appointed by him. The Caribbean and Jamaica will have no role in what is essentially a private process.
Other than the UK Law Lords there are only two colonial occasional invitees from the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.
Jamaican Prime Minister Holness recently appointed to the selfsame Privy Council in 2021 would not play any part in his petition to a part of the body he is a member of and has not resigned from in view of his petition.
The most recent appointments to the JCPC began with BVI national Dame Janice Periera in August 2024 and the Cayman Islands Sir Anthony Smellie in February 2025, both British Overseas Territories of the U.K.
At the time of Dame Periera’s appointment Lord Hodge stated that this arose from a revival of the practice of having a distinguished judge from one of it’s jurisdictions.
To be clear:
1. The appointments to the Privy Council thus far have only been from colonies or British Overseas Territories.
2. The practice of appointments ceased on former colonies becoming independent.
3. No judges have been appointed from Jamaica under this new or revived policy.
4. No judges have been appointed from other former,now independent,colonies.
5. These Caribbean judges have only been appointed to the Privy Council and not the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
6. These Caribbean judges may only sit occasionally and by invitation to the JCPC.
7. There have been only two appointments with invitations under the current policy.
The expectation of some bright, shiny decision, either way, is completely misguided.
Walk past the theatrics of legal advice from the King’s retinue and you are left with a plethora of unanswered questions starting from how much to the check is in the mail.
The U.K. Is not the sole country facing this persistent liability and the King cannot speak for parliament or the paymasters, the proper venue for this discussion.
Churches and universities have not waited on the JCPC to take action and neither should any government with blood and profits on their hands.
Who feels it knows it.
Peter Polack is the author of The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War: South Africa vs. Cuba in the Angolan Civil War (2013), Jamaica, The Land of Film (2017) and Guerrilla Warfare: Kings of Revolution (2018). He was a contributor to Encyclopedia of Warfare (2013).He has completed his latest book entitled Soviet Spies Worldwide: Country by Country, 1940–1988