In May 2025, then-French Prime Minister François Bayrou was confronted by a parliamentary question that revealed a surprising historical oversight: France had never formally revoked the Code Noir, a 17th-century royal decree that legally codified slavery in the French colonies. In response, Bayrou committed to introducing legislation to officially annul the Code, a move initially derailed by the collapse of his government.

A year later, the initiative has resumed momentum. On Thursday, the French National Assembly is set to consider a cross-party bill authored by Max Mathiasin, a deputy from Guadeloupe, to formally abolish the Code Noir — which had remained in the French legal framework for more than three centuries since its creation under King Louis XIV in 1685.

The Code Noir, or Black Code, established the regulatory foundation for slavery in France’s colonial empire, outlining the status of enslaved Africans as property and institutionalizing a system that combined ruthless economic exploitation with religious justifications rooted in the Catholic faith. Notably, the Code’s opening article excluded Jewish people from the Caribbean colonies, reflecting the religious intolerance embedded within the law.

Louis XIV’s administration framed the system of forced labor as a paradoxical form of spiritual salvation, predicated on the conversion of enslaved people to Christianity, an approach that distinguished French colonial slavery from that of British colonies, where religious doctrine often resisted the enslavement of baptized Christians. Religious orders such as the Jesuits were closely involved in the colonies, sometimes operating plantations themselves to support their missions.

Historical accounts highlight the contradictions within this framework. For example, Dominican priest Jean-Baptiste Labat, active in Martinique in the 1690s, simultaneously administered sacraments to enslaved individuals and authorized severe punishments for those practicing African religions, illustrating the system’s fusion of paternalism and brutality.

The Code Noir was part of a broader pattern of European colonial slave laws, which also included Spanish and British regulatory codes. Yet the French decree stood apart for its religious underpinnings and for its expansive geographic reach, influencing legal practices not only in the Caribbean but also in Indian Ocean territories and the vast Louisiana Territory before its sale to the United States in 1803.

French historical narratives have often downplayed this legacy. While revolutionary France is credited with abolishing slavery in 1794, this milestone was short-lived as Napoleon reinstated slavery in the colonies in 1802. The Haitian Revolution, a brutal anti-slavery uprising resulting in approximately 200,000 deaths, remains underemphasized. Slavery was permanently abolished in 1848 under the Second Republic, yet the Code Noir was never officially repealed until now.

The persistence of the Code Noir in contemporary legal texts contrasts sharply with France’s self-image as a nation upholding liberty, equality, and fraternity. Moreover, since World War II, France’s refusal to collect racial data—rooted in a desire to transcend racial distinctions—has complicated public discourse about race and colonial history. This stance promotes universalism but can impede honest reckoning with racial inequality and historical injustice.

While cities like Nantes have taken steps to memorialize the transatlantic slave trade, and a 2001 law recognized slavery as a crime against humanity, awareness of the full scope of France’s colonial slavery remains limited in mainstream society, often confined to annual commemorations.

The proposed repeal of the Code Noir represents a symbolic yet necessary step toward addressing this legacy. However, as Mathiasin and others acknowledge, the enduring social, cultural, and political ramifications of slavery continue to affect France today, from its overseas territories to metropolitan suburbs. The formal abolition of a centuries-old statute marks a beginning rather than an end to France’s broader confrontation with its colonial past.