French Senate unanimously votes to formally repeal 1685 Code Noir, completing legislative process as review of colonial laws leaves reparations unaddressed

France’s Senate has voted unanimously to formally abolish the Code Noir, completing the legislative process to repeal the slavery-era laws, France Info reported. The vote confirmed a decision the National Assembly adopted unanimously in May.

Passed by King Louis XIV in 1685, the Code Noir comprised royal decrees that regulated slavery and set out the rights, duties and restrictions of enslaved people and their owners in the French colonial empire. Slavery was abolished in France’s colonies in 1848, making the decrees legally obsolete, but they and related provisions had never been formally removed from French legislation.

The legislation also requires the government to report on the legacy of colonial-era laws, their lasting effects—particularly in relation to racism—and how slavery is taught in French schools. It does not address reparations for slavery, demands for which continue to be raised in several French overseas territories.