France moves to symbolically repeal slavery legislation

Published 7 June 2026 · politics

Members of the lower house of the French parliament unanimously voted to abolish a series of royal edicts known as the "Code noir" or Black

Members of the lower house of the French parliament unanimously voted to abolish a series of royal edicts known as the "Code noir" or Black Code. The bill stops short of some lawmakers' demands like possible reparations. French lawmakers on Thursday voted to formally repeal slavery-era laws that defined the legal status of enslaved people as "movable property" and justified abuse and corporal punishment. While slavery was outlawed more than 170 years ago in France, making Thursday's motion a symoblic move to formally repeal an old royal decree that was superseded not overturned, the vote comes as the country continues to grapple with its colonial legacy. France was the third-most prolific European trader of enslaved people in the colonial era, after Britain and Portugal. Expert estimates suggest ships departing French ports trafficked more than a million men, women and children from Africa, often to toil in Caribbean colonies. Max Mathiasin, a lawmaker from Guadeloupe, presented the bill to parliament Image: Thomas Padilla/AP Photo/picture alliance What does the bill aim to do? All 254 parliamentarians present in the lower house voted in favor. The bill still must clear debate in the upper house, the Senate, which is seen as a formality. If adopted, the bill would require the government to report to parliament on the consequences of colonial law and the lasting effects of slavery on racism and discrimination in French society, as well as how the history of slavery is taught in schools.

The legislation to be repealed — a series of royal edicts issued between 1685 and 1724 known as the "Code noir" or Black Code — was never formally abrogated when France abolished slavery a second and final time in 1848, or when it recognized slavery and the slave trade as crimes against humanity in 2001. "This proposal does not claim to erase history, nor to single-handedly heal the wounds of history," said Max Mathiasin, a centrist member of parliament from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe as he presented the law. "It aims to take a new step, to make a powerful act of remembrance, justice and recognition, by formally repealing the Code noir and all the texts that stem from it." Speaking to parliament on Thursday, Greens lawmaker Steevy Gustave — whose father was born in the French former colony turned overseas territory of Martinique — said the vote was personal. "I'm thinking of my great-grandmother, Mama Bebelle," he said, barely holding back tears. "She was the grand-daughter of Ambroise Zerambe, born in Africa, then reduced to slavery under the number 336." Paris holds ceremonies and commissions artworks honoring the abolition of slavery late in May each year Image: Thomas Padilla/AP Photo/picture alliance Push for reparations not included in current bill French President Emmanuel Macron lent his support to the motion this month, even raising the subject of reparations but without making concrete proposals.