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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
National
RFI

France turns page on Code Noir as Parliament approves symbolic repeal

France Slavery National Assembly
French MP Max Mathiasin at a debate over his proposed bill aimed at abolishing the slavery-related laws at the National Assembly, France's lower house parliament, in Paris on 28 May, 2026.
French MP Max Mathiasin at a debate over his proposed bill aimed at abolishing the slavery-related laws at the National Assembly, France's lower house parliament, in Paris on 28 May, 2026. AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN

France’s Parliament has unanimously approved the symbolic repeal of the Code Noir and related legislation governing slavery in its former colonies, closing a legal chapter left formally unresolved since abolition in 1848.

Nearly two centuries after France abolished slavery in its colonies, Parliament has given its final approval to legislation formally repealing the Code Noir – the royal edicts that organised and legitimised the enslavement of people under French colonial rule.

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