France votes unanimously to abolish Code Noir, a colonial-era slavery law

Lead

In a rare show of unanimity, French lawmakers in the National Assembly voted 254-0 on Thursday to repeal the Code Noir, a set of 17th-century royal edicts that governed slavery in France's overseas colonies and classified enslaved people as "movable property." The vote, which must still pass the Senate, is widely seen as symbolic because the law had not been applied since France abolished slavery in 1848. Yet it comes amid growing debate over France's colonial legacy and persistent demands for reparations.

Coverage Comparison

Reporting from multiple outlets converges on the core facts: the National Assembly unanimously adopted the bill, the Code Noir was never formally repealed after the abolition of slavery, and the measure is primarily symbolic. According to Deutsche Welle, all 254 parliamentarians present voted in favor, and the bill is now headed to the Senate, where passage is considered a formality. France 24 and RFI both emphasize that the law's repeal is a step in a longer process of reckoning with colonial history. France 24 frames the vote as "France's unfinished reckoning with its colonial past," while RFI highlights that activists are using the moment to push for reparations.

Key Claims

The Code Noir, signed by King Louis XIV in 1685, was a comprehensive set of 60 articles that regulated the lives of enslaved people in French colonies. As reported by multiple sources, its Article 44 declared enslaved people to be "movable property," allowing them to be bought, sold, and inherited. Other provisions permitted brutal punishment, including mutilation for those who fled, and dictated that the testimony of an enslaved person carried no legal weight.

France was the third-most prolific European trader of enslaved people after Britain and Portugal. According to expert estimates cited by several outlets, ships departing French ports forcibly transported more than one million Africans to colonies in the Americas, particularly the Caribbean. France 24 reports a higher estimate of about 1.4 million people trafficked.

The bill, sponsored by Max Mathiasin, a centrist lawmaker from Guadeloupe, aims not only to repeal the Code Noir but also to require the government to report to parliament on the lasting effects of colonial law and slavery on racism and discrimination in French society, according to Deutsche Welle's report. It would also examine how the history of slavery is taught in schools.

Speaking in parliament, Mathiasin said the proposal "does not claim to erase history, nor to single-handedly heal the wounds of history" but rather "aims to take a new step, to make a powerful act of remembrance, justice and recognition." Steevy Gustave, a lawmaker from Martinique, told colleagues that "repealing the Code Noir is necessary, but no vote alone can repair centuries of shattered lives," as reported by Africa News.

Perspectives

President Emmanuel Macron, who last week expressed support for the repeal, said the law "should never have survived the abolition of slavery" and that continued silence toward the Code Noir "has become a form of offense," according to France 24. Macron, however, stopped short of an apology and has cautioned against "false promises" on reparations.

Activists, as reported by RFI, are demanding reparations that include financial compensation and educational programs to address the legacy of slavery and colonialism. They point to enduring inequalities between mainland France and its overseas territories, which were made departments of the Republic but remain among its poorest regions.

Some observers view the repeal as a symptom of a deeper unresolved issue. As France 24 noted, the move is "a symptom, they argue, of a country that has yet to reckon fully with that past, one of many slow steps along the way." The law lost all legal authority in 1848, but its symbolic power persisted for nearly two centuries, leaving many, like Martinique-born nurse Muriel Jean-Baptiste, aghast: "A law that treated Black people as property was left sitting there."

While the vote is a significant gesture, the path forward remains complex. The bill's passage in the Senate is expected, but the broader conversation — about reparations, historical memory, and systemic racism — is far from concluded.