28.05.2026 21:51
The French National Assembly has unanimously repealed the 'Black Code', which contained inhumane regulations targeting slaves during the colonial era. The law had been enacted in 1685 and, although slavery was abolished in 1848, it had never been formally revoked.
The French National Assembly unanimously repealed the "Black Code," which contains inhumane regulations from the colonial era targeting slaves in French colonies.
FRANCE'S SLAVERY LAW REPEALED
French National Assembly President Yael Braun-Pivet announced in a statement on her account on the US-based X company's social media platform that the National Assembly unanimously repealed the "Black Code," which is legally inhumane "in the name of humanity, equality, and universality."
"EFFECTS OF THE BLACK CODE STILL FELT"
Braun-Pivet argued that France continues to confront its history "with transparency." Meanwhile, Max Matiasin, the deputy from the French colony of Guadeloupe, emphasized during his speech at the National Assembly during the vote that the effects of the "Black Code" are still felt in colonial territories, criticizing that these regulations had not been officially abolished until today.
WHAT IS THE BLACK CODE?
The "Black Code," enacted in 1685 by France, one of the world's leading colonial powers, regulated interventions into the lifestyles and religions of enslaved indigenous people in the colonies. The law, which classified slaves as movable property, provided a basis for the slave trade.
Although the "Black Code" lost its legal validity when France abolished slavery in 1848, it had not been officially repealed since that date.