Code Noir: France repeals 341-year-old slavery code, 178 years after abolition

The French Senate has voted to repeal the colonial-era Code Noir, a law that governed slavery in French colonies for over 175 years after the country abolished the practice. The Code Noir, introduced under King Louis XIV in 1685, governed the treatment of enslaved people and remained in French law even after slavery was officially abolished in 1848.

The repeal is primarily symbolic, as the provisions had long ceased to have legal effect, but it formally removes the colonial-era regulations from the statute books and provides for further examination of the continuing legacy of colonial law in France’s overseas territories.

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