Hon. Olivia "Babsy" Grange

09/09/2026

Minister’s statement on historic reparations petition

London, 9 September 2026 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange has issued a statement to address misinformation surrounding the filing of a petition to His Majesty King Charles.

The historic reparations petition was filed on Monday (September 7).

Minister Grange delivered the statement at a meeting with members of the Jamaica Diaspora at the National Windrush Museum in the United Kingdom on Wednesday.

The Minister’s statement follows:

“I report to you today that our petition was smoothly and successfully filed on Monday.

The petition simply asks the King to refer certain points of real importance to the Privy Council for their determination. The matters that His Majesty is asked to refer to the Judicial Committee for clarification are as follows (and I’m quoting directly from the petition):

‘(i) A determination as to whether Transatlantic Chattel Slavery, as practised in Jamaica, was in fact ever lawful under English law, or whether it was offensive to the fundamental principles of the common law and indeed to certain express statutory provisions of the Westminster Parliament;

(ii) A further determination as to whether the said forced transportation and chattel enslavement was a breach of relevant international obligations. These obligations include those arising out of general principles of law, the peremptory prohibitions of slavery, torture, racial discrimination and crimes against humanity and obligations derived from other sources of international law; and

(iii) Finally, His Majesty is respectfully invited to refer the issue of whether there is a legal obligation on the part of the United Kingdom to provide a reparatory remedy to the people of Jamaica, as descendants of those subject to these dehumanising practices, and as a community of persons on whom the practices have had indelible, and continuing, negative effect.’

This petition has been filed to His Majesty — and I keep emphasising that point, but I have heard the criticism and complaint that perhaps the petition has not been filed because I did not physically deposit it into the King’s hand.

There are a few things that I would say in response to that.

The Government, acting through the Governor General, has been in contact with the Palace on the filing of the petition. The Palace has given us guidance on how to file the petition. We have followed the process. The process does not involve presenting the document physically to His Majesty.

However, we sought to have a courtesy call on His Majesty as we filed the petition through the requisite channels, but the Palace replied that the King would be away at Balmoral.

Working with members of the Diaspora — the Windrush generation and their descendants — we developed a programme of activities here to support and amplify the filing of the petition, and raise awareness about the Government of Jamaica’s programme for reparatory justice.

In consultation with members of the Diaspora, we decided to time the filing of the petition to coincide with the 245th anniversary of the Zong massacre which was commemorated with a major activity at the New Park Road Baptist Church in London on Sunday. We believe that filing the petition as we commemorated the Zong massacre, one of the worst illustrations of the gravest crime against humanity, would add weight to the filing of the petition. After all, the petition at his heart — indeed our entire reparatory justice programme — is about dealing with the gravest crime against humanity and finding ways to repair the damage that has been done to our African ancestors; a damage that continues to affect us today.

Contrary to what you might have read in some publications, or seen online, our petition does not include a monetary claim.

However, we believe there must be, there has to be, some appropriate remedy or remedies for the atrocity of chattel enslavement which our ancestors endured.

It is not enough to regret the suffering that slavery inflicted on our ancestors and say let’s build a new future.

We have been taught that when you do something wrong, you must take responsibility for it, apologise and try to set things right. That is really the essence of reparatory justice. It is about repairing the damage which is still evident today.

In this regard, I seek your support in this mission to set things right; to repair a damage; to repair a people.

If we take this on together, there can be no stopping us.”

08/09/2026

Jamaica files a reparations petition to King Charles III over the enslavement of Africans. The petition asks whether enslavement was lawful, whether it constituted a crime against humanity, and whether the United Kingdom owes Jamaica a remedy.

08/09/2026

I met with journalists from The Guardian newspaper today (8th September, 2026).

I was invited by the newspaper to their signature Tuesday Morning interface with high level world leaders and people of interest. I was asked to explain Jamaica’s presence in the UK to file a petition on King Charles 111 pursuant to Section 4 of the Judicial Committee Act of 1833.

I told the Guardian that Jamaica embarked on a purely legal route to ask the King to refer three questions of fundamental constitutional importance to the Jamaican people.

08/09/2026

08/09/2026

Jamaica files reparations petition to King

London, 7 September 2026 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange has confirmed that Jamaica has filed an historic reparations petition to His Majesty King Charles. The petition was filed today (Monday, September 7) in London.

Addressing a media briefing following the filing of the petition, Minister Grange said: “We have filed a reparations petition to His Majesty. We anticipate that the petition will be referred to the Privy Council and we will await the decision.”

The petition asks the King, in his capacity of Head of State of Jamaica, to refer questions about the legality of chattel slavery to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Jamaica’s highest court.

“I wish to say here again that this petition of the Government of Jamaica to His Majesty the King does not include a monetary claim,” said the Minister adding that “already there has been a lot of reaction to our petition and I welcome thoughtful, honest debate on the matter of reparations, but so far, we have seen and heard so much of what isn’t so.”

The Minister was reacting to incorrect media reports that the Jamaican government had made a monetary claim in its petition to the King.

“I wish to make it clear, and will do so at every single opportunity, that this petition is a legal petition. It contains three specific questions… [and] does not include a monetary claim,” said the Minister.

England-based barrister, Edward Fitzgerald, who helped to formulate the petition as part of a team of eminent Jamaican and UK lawyers said “the petition simply asks the King to refer certain points of real importance to the Privy Council for their determination.”

According to Mr Fitzgerald, “There's a special jurisdiction under section four of the Judicial Committee Act for the King to refer an issue of legal or constitutional importance to the Privy Council, for their determination…Any matter of legal or constitutional nature can be referred that cannot be determined through the ordinary judicial process. And this is obviously one of those issues.”

The Jamaican petition asks three specific questions: Whether the seizure, transport and enslavement as chattel of Africans was ever lawful under English law? Was it a breach of international law to seize, transport and enslave Africans in Jamaica? And whether the UK has a legal obligation to provide a reparatory remedy to the people of Jamaica?

Mr Fitzgerald said there's a most powerful argument that it was never lawful.

“If you think of it, it'd be a pretty strange thing if a citizen could just go to Africa, see someone, against their will push them into a boat, and take them on a tortuous journey, and that that was lawful under English common law. There was no statute to authorise it. In fact, there was a statute which said it was unlawful to seize people from Africa and the National Council for Reparations highlighted that George II statute. So to those who say, oh, well, it was lawful at the time, we asked the Privy Council to find that it was never lawful at the time.”

The petition also argues that chattel enslavement was, and is, a crime against humanity.

Regarding the third issue of a remedy, Mr Fitzgerald said: “we've provided the legal principles to the King and to the Privy Council as to why there must be some remedy. The question of what the exact form the remedy would take would be a matter to be worked out in the litigation. But there must be some remedy for wrongs of this magnitude, which continue to have damaging effects on the descendants of those who were enslaved.”

The National Council for Reparations is a high-level advisory body to the Government of Jamaica on matters of reparatory justice. The Council, chaired by attorney at law, Laleta Davis Mattis, reports to Minister Grange.

Minister Grange said it was her “duty not only as a proud woman of African descent, but as a member of the human race to pursue reparations for the hundreds of years of chattel enslavement of African people on plantations in Jamaica.”

“How can we not be moved to action about what is declared to be the gravest crime against humanity that went on for so long and affected so many millions of people?” asked the Minister as she called for support of Jamaica’s petition.

07/09/2026

Today, on the 107th anniversary of the birth of Dr. the Hon. Louise Bennett-Coverley, affectionately known as Miss Lou, we honoured her enduring legacy at her resting place in National Heroes Park.

Through floral tributes, we celebrated the life and work of a woman whose voice, humour, poetry, storytelling and championing of Jamaican culture continue to inspire generations.

Miss Lou’s words and spirit live on in our language, our performing arts and our cultural traditions.

07/09/2026

Happy birthday to the matriarch of the Jamaican culture, the iconic Dr. the Honourable Louise Bennett-Coverley OM, OJ, MBE.

Miss Lou validated our talk, songs, stories and culture. Her contribution to our literary and dramatic heritage is like no other.

07/09/2026

The petition has been filed.

07/09/2026

Grange: all set for filing reparations petition on King

London, 6 September 2026 – “We go fearless into another chapter in our story when we petition, His Majesty King Charles on the matter of reparations” said the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange.

The Minister made the comment on Sunday (6 September) during her address at an ecumenical church Service of Remembrance, Justice and Repair held at the New Park Road Baptist Church in London on the eve of filing the historic petition.

The church service commemorated the 245th anniversary of the Zong massacre when approximately one-third of the Africans being transported to be enslaved as chattel in Jamaica were thrown overboard the slave ship in a scheme to collect insurance for loss of property.

“They threw approximately 140 Africans to their deaths, children, women and men… It was mass murder without a second thought,” declared the Minister who described the Zong massacre as a powerful illustration of the gravest crime against humanity.

The Minister said “the Zong stood out for the barbarity of the crew as well as the temerity of the owners of the ship, the Gregson syndicate from Liverpool, who knew that the crew had deliberately killed more than one-third of the Africans onboard, but still decided to make a claim on their insurers for loss of property.”

The insurers refused to honour the claim which resulted in the ship owners taking the ultimately unsuccessful matter to the English court.

Minister Grange said Jamaica’s filing of a reparations petition on King Charles was to honour the African ancestors who suffered under hundreds of years of enslavement on the island. In this she included the victims of the Zong massacre and those who survived the perilous and torturous trip to Black River in 1781.

The Minister said she took inspiration from the many heroes who fought for and won our freedoms including National Heroes, the Right Excellent Sam Sharpe, the Right Excellent Nanny of the Maroons, Tacky, Kojo, Accompong, and Fyah as she files the petition to His Majesty King Charles on Monday, September 7, 2026.

“We do not come begging. We come, once more, as in the case of the Zong massacre, looking to the English court for a just decision,” said Minister Grange.

The petition asks the King, in his capacity of Head of State of Jamaica, to refer three questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Jamaica’s highest court.

The Minister summarised the questions as follows:
“Was the seizure, transport and enslavement as chattel of Africans ever lawful under English law? Was it a breach of international law to seize, transport and enslave Africans in Jamaica? And whether the UK has a legal obligation to provide a reparatory remedy to the people of Jamaica?”

Emphasising that this a legal procedure, instead of a political one, Minister Grange said, “We anticipate that His Majesty will accept our petition and refer the questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.”

The Minister also addressed those opposed to the government’s petition.

“We are ready for those who will deny and oppose. To them I say, as we’ve been taught, let justice ring.”

07/09/2026

On Sunday September 6, the 245th anniversary of the day the Zong took to the high seas to cross the Atlantic from the West Coast of Africa to the shores of Jamaica, we gathered at New Park Road Baptist Church in Brixton, London for a Service of Remembrance, Justice and Repair under the theme “Carry Wi Story, Lest We Forget.”

We paused to remember the 132 victims of the Zong Massacre and all those who suffered under slavery, while honouring the resilience of our ancestors and their fight for freedom.

As we move forward with Jamaica’s reparations petition to King Charles III, we do so with courage and conviction.

To be clear, we are not begging or looking for handouts. We are seeking JUSTICE, with the belief that JUSTICE is the best way to achieve JUSTICE for a JUST CAUSE. Our cause is JUST.

Let justice roll on like a river. We will never stop seeking justice. We will forever carry OUR stories.

theNextLevel