Britain under pressure - Henry drafts petition to drag Queen before the courts over slavery
Published:Wednesday | February 21, 2018 | 12:00 AMRomario Scott/Gleaner Writer
Reparation advocate and Member of Parliament for Central Clarendon Mike Henry says he has completed a draft of a petition he plans to pursue all the way to the Privy Council against British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in relation to slavery and the demand for reparation.
The petition is to go to the attorney general for legal advice.
Henry, who is also the minister of transport and mining, was speaking yesterday at a press conference organised by the Centre for Reparation Research at the University of the West Indies.
Henry disclosed that he has retained the services of a law firm in Britain to help him bring his case.
He said that legal advice was given to him by the law firm two days ago on how to pursue the matter.
The advocate described slavery and the slave trade as an economic crime and was adamant that the Queen should be made to answer for the role Britain played in the travesty.
Acknowledging that it will be an uphill battle to bring the petition, he says he is prepared to do all he can to get the matter before the Privy Council.
He is appealing to The Jamaican Government to show the political will to back the fight for reparation.
Responding to concerns over Henry's path to justice, Queen's Counsel Lord Anthony Gifford, who was also at the press conference, argued that Britain's Judicial Committee Act, which establishes the Privy Council, makes provision for such a case to be heard.