header-logo header-logo

Slavery: room for reparations?

26 May 2023 / Thomas Roe KC
Issue: 8026 / Categories: Features , Profession , International justice , Equality , Public
printer mail-detail
123322
Is there potential for a legal claim for reparations for the slave trade? Thomas Roe KC examines the possibilities & limitations under public international law
  • Examines whether states could have a claim in public international law against states complicit in the transatlantic slave trade.
  • Covers some historical context, including written works of Olaudah Equiano from 1789, and international treaties.
  • Refers to the Island of Palmas case.

In 2013, the Caribbean Community set up the CARICOM Reparations Commission to ‘prepare the case [for] reparatory justice for the Caribbean region’s indigenous and African descendant communities who are the victims of Crimes Against Humanity in the form of genocide, slavery, slave trading and racial apartheid’. A decade on, the issue is rarely far from the headlines.

CARICOM’s proposal encompasses a variety of approaches. This article focuses on the issue of law: do states have a tenable claim in public international law against states complicit in the transatlantic slave trade? (See generally Buser, Colonial Injustices and the Law of State Responsibility,

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Rylatt and Robyn Laye of Anthony Gold Solicitors examine recent international relocation cases where allegations of domestic abuse shaped outcomes
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll