CARIBBEAN nations are reportedly considering taking the UK to an international court in a bid to secure reparations for slavery.
Legal experts are examining whether a case could be brought against Britain under international racial discrimination laws, according to The Telegraph.
Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, is hosting a conference on reparations this week where strategies for securing compensation are being discussed.
She has suggested international legal action could be one option, telling supporters it was time to “stop being advocates in a movement, and start being advocates in a case”.
The potential legal strategy would involve Caribbean nations arguing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the UK is breaching its obligations under international treaties by refusing to provide reparations.
Britain abolished slavery in most of its colonies in 1834 and is signed up to the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Under one potential argument being considered by campaigners, the continuing economic and social consequences of slavery amount to an ongoing harm for which Britain has an obligation to provide redress.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said in August that the convention should cover “reparation for acts of racial discrimination linked to the continuing consequences of historical injustices”.
However, it remains unclear whether such an argument would ultimately succeed in an international court.
The UK accepts the jurisdiction of the ICJ but has an exemption relating to disputes arising from events which took place before 1987.
Caribbean leaders are also expected to push the issue of reparations at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in November, which King Charles is expected to attend in Antigua and Barbuda.
Mottley has announced the creation of a “technical committee” tasked with gathering economic evidence of the damage caused to Barbados by slavery to support the case for reparations.
Campaigners have argued that reparations do not necessarily have to take the form of direct cash payments, with development funding and healthcare support among other options being proposed.
Speaking in Bridgetown, Mottley said any reparations could also be paid over generations.
“We have no desire to bankrupt anybody but we have a desire for justice,” she said.
Mottley said the West’s refusal to pay reparations was hypocritical.
“Those who want to preach morality, and those who want to tell us about good governance, who want to create the illusion of appropriateness, goodness, purity – the language associated with ‘white’ – are perpetrating a mockery,” she said.
The African Union has also reportedly been examining the possibility of pursuing an international legal case over reparations.
Advisers have looked to the UK's agreement to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as a potential model after the ICJ issued an advisory opinion in 2019 finding that Britain's continued administration of the islands was unlawful.
