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Slavery - France abolishes the "Black Code"

2026-05-28 19:00:04Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Slavery - France abolishes the "Black Code"

France has officially repealed the "Black Code," a 17th-century law that classified enslaved people as property and allowed their inhumane treatment in French colonies.

The French National Assembly voted unanimously with 254 votes in favor and none against to repeal the law signed by King Louis XIV in 1685, The Guardian reports.

The law had technically remained in force for almost 180 years after the abolition of slavery in France in 1848.

French President Emmanuel Macron declared that the code "should never have survived after the abolition of slavery."

"The silence, even the indifference that we have maintained for almost two centuries towards this Black Code, is no longer a negligence. It has become a form of insult," Macron said.

He added that the issue of reparations for France's role in the slave trade is a debate that the country "should not reject," but warned against making "false promises."

The debate in parliament was accompanied by strong emotions, with many MPs expressing surprise that the law still formally existed.

The MP from Martinique, Steevy Gustave, a descendant of slaves, spoke with tears in his eyes in parliament.

"No vote can repair centuries of shattered lives. We are not descendants of slaves, but descendants of people who were born free and then reduced to slavery," he declared.

The “Black Code” contained 60 articles that regulated every aspect of slave life. One article considered enslaved people as “movable property,” while others provided for mutilation for those who escaped and denied the validity of their testimony.

MP Max Mathiasin from Guadeloupe, who proposed repealing the law, said he had never managed to read the original text in full because of the pain it caused him.

"This was done by human beings against human beings," he said.

France is considered the third largest power in the transatlantic slave trade after Great Britain and Portugal, transporting around 1.4 million Africans to sugar plantations in its colonies.

One of the wealthiest colonies was present-day Haiti, where slaves rose in revolt and won independence in 1804. However, France forced former slaves to pay compensation for losses to French owners until 1947.

Today, French overseas territories such as Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Réunion remain among the poorest areas of France, with unemployment and poverty levels significantly higher than on the mainland.


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