France is commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Taubira Law, landmark legislation that recognised the transatlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity – amid renewed debate over reparations and the legacy of colonialism.
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This month’s anniversary of the Taubira Law comes as French MPs move to formally repeal the “Code Noir” – a collection of royal decrees from the 17th and 18th centuries which regulated slavery in the French colonies.
Although the decrees ceased to be applied long ago, they have not been explicitly removed from French law.
On Wednesday, members of the National Assembly’s Law Commission unanimously backed a bill to repeal the text, ahead of commemorations of the anniversary which will take place across France and its overseas territories.
French President Emmanuel Macron was due to address the issue during a reception at the Élysée Palace on Thursday attended by Christiane Taubira – the former justice minister and MP for French Guiana who was behind the landmark 2001 legislation.
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Reshaping the discourse
Adopted on 21 May, 2001, the Taubira Law marked a turning point in the way France confronted its colonial past.
The legislation formally recognised the Atlantic slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity and called for their history to be taught more in schools and research institutions.
The law was groundbreaking at the time, with France becoming the first country in the world to officially acknowledge slavery in those terms.
Taubira argued that France could not build an egalitarian future without honestly addressing the violence and dehumanisation at the heart of the colonial slavery system.
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Speaking to RFI earlier this month, Taubira reflected on the emotions surrounding the parliamentary debate that led to the law’s adoption.
“We are here to say that the slave trade and slavery were and remain a crime against humanity,” she recalled telling lawmakers in her 2001 speech.
Taubira said she saw the law not simply as a parliamentary measure, but as a message directed at the country as a whole.
“I was speaking to French society much more than to my fellow MPs,” she told RFI.
Over the past quarter of a century, that legislation has helped reshape public debate in France.
Museums, memorial projects and educational initiatives dedicated to slavery and colonial history have multiplied. The annual National Day of Remembrance of Slavery and its Abolition, held on 10 May, has become an established part of the national calendar.
But campaigners say recognition alone is not enough.
During recent debates, MPs highlighted the inequalities that continue to affect many in France’s overseas territories, including Martinique, Guadeloupe and Mayotte, as well as the persistence of anti-black racism in mainland France.
Left-wing MP Nadège Abomangoli pointed to issues ranging from the chlordecone pesticide scandal in the French Caribbean to water shortages in Mayotte, arguing that the legacies of slavery and colonialism remain visible in everyday life.
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Reparations in the spotlight
The anniversary has also reignited the debate over whether the state should go beyond remembrance and move towards reparations.
In 1848, when slavery was abolished for the second and final time in the French empire, it was slave owners who received financial compensation from the Republic, rather than formerly enslaved people.
“This vote must mark the start of a process, not its conclusion,” Martinique MP Jiovanny William told fellow lawmakers during this week’s debates. “Beyond the essential work of remembrance, can there be forgiveness without reparations?”
Earlier this month, Serge Letchimy, president of the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique, wrote to Macron urging him to commit France to a process of reparation, and to establish a dedicated commission to examine practical measures.
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Macron has launched a separate historical commission examining the indemnity France imposed on Haiti in the 19th century, in exchange for recognising Haitian independence – a debt that historians say burdened the Caribbean nation for generations.
For now, however, the French government appears cautious about any concrete commitments. The bill approved by the Law Commission stops short of endorsing reparations. Instead, it calls on the government to produce a report examining colonial law, its long-term consequences and the place of slavery in French education.
Taubira acknowledged to RFI that the issue of reparations had not been seriously debated when the law was passed in 2001.
“We cannot avoid the question of reparations,” she said. “But we also know that what happened is irreparable.”
This article was partially adapted from an interview by Valérie Nivelon for RFI’s French service.
