The French National Assembly voted Thursday to repeal the Code Noir, a colonial-era decree that classified enslaved people as property [1].
The move represents a symbolic effort by the French state to reckon with its history of colonialism and systemic dehumanization. By formally erasing the legal framework that governed slavery in its colonies, France seeks to acknowledge the trauma of its past [2].
The Code Noir was originally enacted in 1685 [3]. For centuries, this legal code provided the administrative basis for the enslavement of people of African descent in French colonies, stripping them of basic human rights and treating them as chattel [1].
Lawmakers in the lower house of parliament reached a unanimous decision to approve the bill on May 28 [4]. This legislative action occurs 178 years after France officially abolished slavery in 1848 [3].
While the Code Noir had long ceased to be enforceable in practice, its continued existence in the legal record remained a point of contention for historians and activists. The repeal is intended to remove the remaining legal vestiges of a system that institutionalized racial hierarchy [2].
The vote took place in Paris, where lawmakers said the process was a necessary step toward historical justice [1]. The bill now moves forward in the legislative process to fully scrub the decree from the national record [5].
“The French National Assembly voted Thursday to repeal the Code Noir.”
The repeal of the Code Noir is a symbolic legislative act rather than a change in current criminal or civil law, as the code had no practical application in modern France. However, it serves as a formal state admission of the brutality of the colonial era and is part of a broader global trend of former colonial powers attempting to reconcile with the legacy of transatlantic slavery.
