There is no international court with jurisdiction to hear a reparations claim brought by Caribbean states against Britain. This is not a technicality. It is a fundamental obstacle that no amount of advocacy can overcome without the agreement of the British government.
The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial body of the United Nations, has jurisdiction only where both parties to a dispute accept its jurisdiction. Britain has not accepted ICJ jurisdiction over slavery reparations claims. Without British consent, no ICJ case can proceed.
Other international tribunals have even more limited jurisdiction. There is no general international human rights court with jurisdiction over Britain that could hear such a claim, and even if one existed, the legal basis for the claim, as examined elsewhere in this section, is extremely weak.
