France moves to repeal colonial-era slavery legislation
The French government is expected to take steps on Thursday to remove language from its statutes that defined individuals in its colonies as "moveable goods", a move framed as part of the nation's ongoing reckoning with its historical role in the transatlantic slave trade.
France is anticipated to initiate legislative action on Thursday aimed at repealing outdated statutes that historically classified enslaved people within its colonial territories as "moveable goods". The proposed change is characterised as symbolic, reflecting the government’s continued efforts to address the complexities of its colonial legacy through institutional reform.
According to reporting by France 24 International, the specific legislation being targeted explicitly reduced human beings to the status of property under colonial law. The move to remove this classification comes as the nation grapples with the enduring impacts of its historical involvement in the enslavement of people.
Historical records indicate that France was the third-largest slave trading nation in Europe, trailing only the British and the Portuguese. The country abolished the enslavement of humans more than 170 years ago, a significant milestone in its legal and social history.
In 2001, France took a further step in acknowledging this history by officially recognising slavery and the slave trade as "crimes against humanity". This legislative recognition provided a formal framework for the state to confront its past, although the current move to repeal the specific "moveable goods" terminology suggests an ongoing process of legal cleanup and historical accountability.
The anticipated Thursday action does not specify the exact parliamentary procedure or legal mechanism being employed, such as a bill introduction or a decree. However, the focus remains on aligning current statutes with modern understandings of human rights and historical justice.
As the government moves forward with this symbolic repeal, it underscores the persistent tension between France’s historical identity as a major colonial power and its contemporary political commitment to addressing the remnants of that era. The repeal of such archaic legal definitions serves as a visible marker of this institutional shift.
The move highlights the broader European context of re-evaluating colonial histories, with France seeking to define its relationship with its past through targeted legislative adjustments. While the practical legal impact of removing this specific terminology may be limited given the age of the laws, the symbolic weight of the action remains significant in the discourse on national memory and governance.
