France's code noir, or Black code, was a set of articles drafted during the 17th century by the powerful first minister of state Jean-Baptiste Colbert and completed by his son, Jean-Baptiste Antoine Colbert. Commissioned by King Louis XIV, its purpose was to regulate the lives of enslaved people and their masters in the French Caribbean colonies. For example, several paragraphs detail punishments for escape attempts as well as the obligation for slaves to adopt Catholicism.
Slavery was abolished during the French Revolution in 1794, then reinstated by Napoleon in 1802, and finally abolished again in 1848. However, the Black code itself was never formally repealed. French Prime Minister François Bayrou has promised its repeal, in what would be a symbolic act of remembrance.
Le Monde explains how this legislation regulated human trafficking during the French colonial era.