Time has come for reparations discussions, say lawyers investigating potential for claims

The reparations team at law firm Leigh Day, led by partner and immigration and asylum team head, Jacqueline McKenzie, say the UK should not try to silence discussions around reparations for the present-day impact of the enslavement of Africans during the Trans Atlantic slave trade era.

Instead, the UK should accept that the time has come for the debate around the subject to be had.

Downing Street reportedly said reparations should not be on the agenda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting taking place in Samoa.

But the Bahamas foreign affairs minister Frederick Mitchell, told the BBC that CARICOM countries – a community of 15 member states and six associate members across the Americas and the Caribbean – “want the conversation to start about it”, reported PA.

Jacqueline McKenzie said:

“The UK government cannot ignore the calls of CARICOM leaders for reparations for much longer. To say the period of enslavement was in the past, implying that this was too long ago to matter now, is quite offensive. The future of those countries and peoples affected very much depend on atonement; the legacy of ill effects and underdevelopment continue to haunt those nations affected. If we say we want greater equality and equity in the world, the way to do this is to examine what and how reparations might manifest, rather than to shut down the conversation down as though those seeking it are the problem. We stand fully behind CARICOM and look forward to working with those wanting to facilitate serious dialogue on the matter.”

Jacqui’s team at Leigh Day has been key in effecting progress on talks around reparations. In May 2023 they jointly hosted a discussion at the House of Commons, bringing together lawyers, academics, representatives of foreign governments, journalists and grassroot activists, to explore the legal case for reparations.

This year the team has hosted round-table events to further discussions, including one just last week 17 October 2024 at which the main speaker was Attorney Arley Gill, Chair of Grenada’s National Reparations Commission. He addressed those attending on Grenada’s work on reparations and on his recent presentation to UNESCO’s Routes of Enslaved Peoples.

On Friday 10 November 2023 the Leigh Day reparations team hosted a reception and lecture at its offices at Panagram, Goswell Road, Farringdon.

David Comissiong, author of “It's the Healing of the Nation: The Case for Reparations in An Era of Recession and Re-colonization”, lawyer, historian and Barbados’ Ambassador to CARICOM delivered a keynote address on CARICOM’s work on Reparations for the enslavement of Africans during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Responses to Mr Comissiong were given by Olivette Otele, historian and Distinguished Research Professor of the Legacies and Memory of Slavery at SOAS, University of London, and Robert Beckford, Professor of Climate and Social Justice, University of Winchester. Robert has made several programmes on reparations including, ‘After the Flood: the Church, Slavery and Reconciliation’ (2022), ‘The Church’s Slave Plantation‘ (2022) and ‘Empire Pays Back’ (2005). Robert is also a contributor to the recent global calculus for reparations, The Brattle Report (2023).

Jacqueline McKenzie is in close communication with the CARICOM High Commissioners to the UK who are in Samoa for the Commonwealth leaders’ summit.