Full Breakdown
France Repeals 17th-Century Code Noir in Unanimous Vote
5/28/2026, 10:14:33 PM
Repeal of the Code Noir
On 28 May 2026, the French National Assembly voted 254-0 to repeal the Code Noir, the 1685 royal decree that defined enslaved people as movable property and prescribed punishments for fugitives. Although slavery was abolished in 1848, the code remained on the books, making its formal removal a symbolic correction of a legal relic.
Legacy of the Code Noir and France’s Slave-Trade History
France was the third-largest participant in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, moving an estimated 1.4 million Africans to Caribbean and American plantations, a commerce that financed the growth of Nantes and Bordeaux. The four oldest overseas departments—Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Réunion—contain about 1.9 million residents, most descended from enslaved people, and experience unemployment roughly twice the mainland rate and higher poverty.
Government Position and Statements
President Emmanuel Macron said the Code Noir “should never have survived the abolition of slavery” and described the historic silence as “no longer an oversight” but “a form of offense.” He noted that reparations are “a question we must not refuse” while warning against “false promises,” and outlined truth-telling, education and historical research as the first steps.
Opposition and Civil-Society Views
Critics argue the repeal is largely symbolic. Pierre-Yves Bocquet, deputy director of the Foundation for the Remembrance of Slavery, warned that “even today, we accept that people in the overseas territories can have fewer rights than in mainland France.” Max Relouzat, president of the Association for the Memory of Slaveries, described France as “still today in a form of apartheid … a form of colonial continuity.” Slavery scholar Florence Alexis linked present-day racism to the legacy of slavery rather than to any single law.
Verbatim Quotes
- “but no vote alone can repair centuries of shattered lives.” — Steevy Gustave, Deputy (Martinique)
- “As the great-great-grandson of people who were enslaved, I had never been able to read it in full. This was made by human beings, against human beings,” — Max Mathiasin, Deputy (Guadeloupe)
- “we are still today in a form of apartheid … a form of colonial continuity.” — Max Relouzat, President, Association for the Memory of Slaveries
- “People made animal cries when I walked past — as they still do in football stadiums today.” — Florence Alexis, Slavery Expert
Outlook
The government plans to pursue reparations through truth-telling, education and historical research, but no monetary commitment has been made. Parliamentary and civil-society debates will determine whether the repeal leads to concrete policy changes for the overseas departments.
