France, Oct. 21 -- Nearly two centuries after France abolished slavery in its colonies, Parliament has given its final approval to legislation formally repealing the Code Noir - the royal edicts that organised and legitimised the enslavement of people under French colonial rule.

Senators unanimously backed the bill on Tuesday, following an equally unanimous vote in the National Assembly in May. Proposed by Guadeloupe MP Max Mathiasin, the measure targets the royal edict of 1685 and the legislation stemming from it.

The vote comes 25 years after France recognised the slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity under the 2001 Taubira law.

Its significance is primarily symbolic. The texts governing slavery ceased to have legal effe...