On October 20, 2026, the Senate passed the bill to repeal the Code Noir without amendment, by a vote of 320 in favor and none against. Parliament has thus completed its review of a bill sponsored by Guadeloupe Representative Max Mathiasin, 341 years after the edict of March 1685. All that remains is for the law to be enacted.
"Code Noir": A Vote with No Opposing Votes in the Senate
On Tuesday, October 20, 2026, senators voted on the bill as adopted by the National Assembly on May 28. The vote resulted in 320 votes in favor, none against, and 18 abstentions, all from the Kanaky Communist, Republican, Citizen, and Ecologist Group. With no amendments, the bill is definitively adopted.
Five amendments put to a public vote, introduced by the Socialist and Communist caucuses, were rejected. The text therefore remains identical to that of the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate Judiciary Committee had finalized its version on October 14, six days before the public session. It must be enacted within a maximum of fifteen days, unless the matter is referred to the Constitutional Council. The Senate rapporteur, Louis Vogel, noted that there was little doubt regarding the implicit repeal of the Code Noir. He nevertheless deemed it justified to include an explicit repeal in the law.
Max Mathiasin: The Origin of a Text from Guadeloupe
It all begins in early May 2025. Max Mathiasin He and his colleague Olivier Serva are gauging the extent of the public reaction to the continued existence of the Code Noir. Jean-Claude Nelson, the ninth vice president of the Guadeloupe region, had brought this issue to the representative’s attention. The two elected officials decided to take action. The bill was introduced in the National Assembly on September 16, 2025, with 130 co-sponsors.
The Law Commission unanimously approved it on May 20, 2026. On May 21—the 25th anniversary of the Taubira Law—the government initiated the fast-track procedure. Members of Parliament adopted it on May 28. Max Mathiasin also served as the rapporteur for the bill before the National Assembly’s Law Commission. For Max Mathiasin, these provisions had remained in “the shadows of our legal system.” He believed the time had come to bring them out of the shadows.
What did the Code Noir of 1685 represent?
The Code Noir is a collection of royal edicts issued between 1685 and 1724. It established the relationship between masters and enslaved people in the French colonies. It also addressed the slave trade. Its founding text dates from March 1685. Its official title says it all: “Edict of the King on the Slaves of the Islands of America.”
Why repeal the Code Noir when slavery has been abolished since 1848?
The Convention abolished slavery for the first time on February 4, 1794. Napoleon reinstated it. A decree dated April 27, 1848, issued at the instigation of Victor Schoelcher, abolished it once and for all. The Code Noir then fell into disuse, without ever having been formally repealed. It is this paradox that our May 2026 article detailed prior to the vote by members of the National Assembly. From a legal standpoint, the Senate’s vote is essentially symbolic, since the Code Noir no longer has any effect. Its significance lies in what the law now affirms.
What the Law Stipulates Beyond Repeal
Article 1 repeals the edict of March 1685 and all provisions adopted for its implementation, adaptation, or extension to other territories. Article 1 bis goes further. In it, the French Republic recognizes that the laws that institutionalized the reduction of human beings to the status of personal property are inseparable from the crime against humanity. This crime is the one that the Taubira Act of May 21, 2001, recognized in the context of the slave trade and slavery.
Article 2 requires the Government to submit a report to Parliament within one year of the law’s enactment. The report will list the provisions derived from colonial law that are still in force in the overseas territories. It will analyze their contemporary implications, particularly for the descendants of enslaved people. It will assess the role of the history of slavery, the slave trade, and their abolition in school curricula. Finally, it will propose measures to develop sites of remembrance and historical research.
After repeal, the transfer
The Code Noir is thus being removed from French law, but its history must still be passed on. Within a year of its enactment, the report will detail what traces of colonial law remain in the overseas territories. It will also address the extent to which schools address slavery, the slave trade, and their abolition. It remains to be seen what Parliament will do with these proposals—and what students will take away from them.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Code Noir
On October 20, 2026, Parliament definitively adopted the repeal of the Code Noir. The law must still be enacted within a maximum of fifteen days, unless the matter is referred to the Constitutional Council.
No. It fell into disuse with the permanent abolition of slavery by the decree of April 27, 1848, but it had never been formally repealed.
It repeals the edict of March 1685 and the provisions adopted for its implementation. It links these texts to the crime against humanity recognized by the Taubira Act of 2001. Finally, it requires the Government to submit a report, within one year of its enactment, on colonial law still in force.
The decision was signed in Brasília, but its effects will be felt along the banks ofthe Oyapock River. On Wednesday, July 1, 2026, France and Brazil adopted a roadmap aimed at strengthening their cooperation along the French Guiana border. In particular, the agreement provides for the suspension of the short-stay visa requirement for Brazilian nationals wishing to travel to French Guiana, effective July 31.
On paper, this is an administrative measure. In reality, it touches on a more sensitive issue: that of a border long perceived by residents as close, yet complicated by regulations. For many Brazilians in Amapá, entering French Guiana has until now required a cumbersome process, even though family, business, and social ties exist on both sides of the river.
An anomaly that is difficult to defend
The France-Brazil announcement rectifies a situation often described as unfair. Brazilian nationals could travel to mainland France without a short-stay visa, but were required to apply for one to enter French Guiana, a French territory located right on their border. This difference in treatment fostered a sense of confusion, and sometimes even of discrimination.
French Guiana is not part of the Schengen Area, which partly explains this special arrangement. But on the ground, the legal explanation was no longer sufficient. In Saint-Georges-de-l’Oyapock, as in Oiapoque, the border is not merely a diplomatic line. It shapes lives, travel, markets, families, and long-standing traditions.
A Human and Strategic Border
France shares its longest land border with Brazil: approximately 730 kilometers between French Guiana and the state of Amapá, in the heart of the Amazon. This geographical reality gives the agreement special significance. France is not merely a European partner in its relations with Brazil. Through French Guiana, it is also a neighbor to South America, the Amazon region, and the Caribbean.
The suspension of short-stay visas does not apply solely to tourism. It can facilitate exchanges, bring residents closer together, support certain businesses, and ease a barrier that had been weighing particularly heavily on border communities. It also acknowledges that French Guiana cannot be understood solely from the perspective of Paris or Brasília, but must be viewed within the context of its own regional context.
Security, Drug Trafficking, and the Environment
This openness does not mean a lack of oversight. The roadmap signed in Brasília also aims to strengthen cooperation against drug trafficking, illegal gold mining, and environmental crimes. These are major challenges in a forested area that is difficult to monitor, where criminal networks operate, illegal gold flows, and intense pressure is being exerted on the Amazon.
The measure therefore strikes a delicate balance: facilitating legal travel while strengthening the fight against trafficking. For the French and Brazilian authorities, the challenge will be to demonstrate that the visa relaxation does not compromise security, but rather is part of a more effective, better-coordinated, and more respectful approach to local realities.
A development to watch closely
We must be clear: this is not a blanket, permanent waiver announced without conditions. The measure concerns the suspension of the short-stay visa requirement for Brazilian nationals entering French Guiana. The rules regarding duration, screening, and entry into the territory therefore remain in effect.
This is more than just a diplomatic agreement between France and Brazil. It demonstrates how an administrative decision can become a symbol of dignity, recognition, and regional cooperation. In Oyapock, the suspension of the short-stay visa marks a new phase. It will not single-handedly resolve border tensions, but it can correct an anomaly and compel both countries to view French Guiana as a true crossroads of the Amazon, the Caribbean, and South America.
Provided, however, that this openness is accompanied by concrete measures: an administrative presence, clear information for travelers, sustained police cooperation, and dialogue with local elected officials. Without these elements, the France-Brazil announcement could remain merely symbolic. With serious follow-through, it can bring about tangible change for those who experience the border firsthand every day—not just in press releases from the capitals, but right where the people affected live.
The France-Brazil agreement signed on July 1, 2026, in Brasília provides for enhanced cooperation between the two countries along the French Guiana border. In particular, it addresses the fight against drug trafficking, illegal gold mining, and environmental crimes. It also provides for the suspension of the short-stay visa requirement for Brazilian nationals wishing to travel to French Guiana starting July 31.
The suspension of the short-stay visa requirement is significant because it corrects a situation that has long been viewed as a border anomaly. Brazilian nationals could travel to mainland France without a short-stay visa, but were required to apply for one to enter French Guiana, even though it is located directly on the border with Amapá. This measure can therefore facilitate family, business, and social ties between the two territories.
No. The suspension applies to the short-stay visa requirement for Brazilian nationals traveling to French Guiana, but it does not eliminate border controls. Travelers must still comply with entry requirements, the authorized length of stay, and the rules applicable in French Guiana. The measure aims to facilitate legal travel while maintaining security cooperation between France and Brazil.
