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Spokesman and Government Member of Parliament Mike Henry has said that he might be forced to take the issue of reparation straight to the United Kingdom courts, if there is further delay."I have given them the case, which is being done pro bono by a select team of lawyers, including UK lawyers, for the attorney general to take it to the Cabinet for approval. If they are going to take two years more then I must assume that they don't want it, and I am about to take a decision to go public in order to get it done," Henry told the Jamaica Observer last week.Henry indicated that he could table another motion on the issue as soon as this week, and seek an opportunity to take the case to the UK with the support of the pro bono lawyers who had offered their services.The former Cabinet minister has already assembled a team of highly respected lawyers, including esteemed Jamaican Queen's Counsel Frank Phipps, and UK attorneys - Edward Fitzgerald, Q C, Lawrence Cartier, and former Jamaican Bar Association President Ian Wilkinson, who are willing to represent him pro bono in the UK courts for free and "for the public good".Henry, who hosted a virtual conference with the team of lawyers in July last year, said that he is concerned that the country could finally make the move to republicanism, by removing the British Queen as the head of State, shortly; because, that could cost the nation its claim to reparation.He is also concerned that with the issue now removed to the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, headed by Olivia "Babsy" Grange, it could lead to a considerable delay, during which time the move to republicanism could be consummated.Grange, in the meantime, has revived the National Council for Reparations (NCR), with the permanent secretary in the ministry, Denzil Thorpe, chairing a March 18 retreat, which was aimed at getting the ball rolling in terms of addressing the remaining hurdles, as promptly as possible.This process will include public consultations, inter-agency/inter-ministry consultations which are relevant to the issue, as well as the creation of actionable outcomes that are measurable and time-bound and a monitoring and evaluation framework.Former permanent secretary in the ministry, Sydney Bartley, confirmed that a NCR was established there in 2009 by Grange, marking the first time that the Government was entering the debate on reparations. However, it could not be ascertained what happened between then and 2013, when regional nations established the Caricom Reparations Commission (CRC), headed by vice chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI) Hilary Beckles, and individual countries were advised to establish their own commissions.In 2013, Jamaica's NCR, led by Professor Verene Shepherd, presented in Parliament its own report on the work of the National Commission on Reparation, that defined reparation, noting the four elements to be considered in discussions on a "meritorious claim" to reparations as: The continued presence of the defendant/perpetrator; That the injustice was documented; That the victims are identifiable by their separateness; and that the descendants of the victims continue to suffer.This encouraged Henry to throw his cap into the arena after waiting for the opportunity for several years, when he tabled a resolution on reparations in Gordon House, finally bringing the issue to the Jamaican Parliament where it was unanimously approved.The move opened the door to more action and led to the creation of a petition by Frank Phipps, in the form of an affidavit co-signed by Henry and addressed to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The idea for the petition was that it would be an initial move, which rested on the view of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) being asked by Her Majesty to provide an opinion on its content.Bartley pointed out that the petition and the thrust to develop a national policy on reparatory justice are now the two most consequential activities of the council appointed recently by the culture minister. However, the success of these activities has been stifled by a number of challenges since then, which he explained as:(1) The need to determine what level of international engagement should be used to achieve the goal of reparations;(2) The need to recognise that many of the actions deemed to be able to reduce racism and racial discrimination have not proven fruitful;(3) Efforts in the international realm to create days or moments of focus and reflections have had no impact on behaviour that has become imbedded, because of racialised chattel slavery and the slave trade.This situation, the council noted, led to the question of what makes a difference if anything, and what must be the way forward in dealing with international bodies and international actions pertaining to the subject matters.The council will also be looking at a number of comments from members, including: That the Government needs to institute a Repatriation Tax at the airports on persons with passports from European countries which were enslavers; The need for a clear demonstration of how monies received through reparations will be used; and that ganja farmers who have had their fields burnt down by the police in yesteryear deserve reparations, "now that the Government has bought into the foreign promotion of ganja.It was also noted that Africa was not innocent in the process of slavery, and must be conjoined in the thrust for reparation, and should be made to establish an institution in the Caribbean to benefit Caribbean people.