The Paris appeal court has officially upheld the conviction of National Rally leader Marine Le Pen regarding the misuse of European Union funds. Despite the guilty verdict, the court significantly shortened her sentence, effectively clearing a legal pathway for her to potentially compete in the French presidential election scheduled for April 2027.
As part of the revised sentencing, a five-year ban on holding public office was reduced and backdated to March 2025, with the court noting that the penalty has already been served. While Le Pen has been handed a one-year term involving an electronic ankle tag under house arrest, this specific condition does not legally prohibit her from running for office. However, Le Pen has repeatedly stated that she would refuse to run if required to wear an electronic tag, as she believes it would prevent her from feeling “totally free” to conduct a proper campaign.
The court’s decision follows proceedings that weighed the legal consequences of ineligibility against the “freedom of candidacy” and the rights of the electorate. Judges emphasized that their role was to ensure a proportionate punishment while respecting the democratic process. The verdict confirms that Le Pen was guilty of embezzling funds intended for European Parliament members between 2004-16 to cover party staff expenses. Her sentence now consists of 45 months, with most suspended and one year involving the electronic tag.
Dozens of journalists and members of the public gathered at the Paris court of appeals on Tuesday to await the outcome. Marine Le Pen, who has already lost two consecutive presidential races to Emmanuel Macron, currently leads in opinion polls with less than 10 months to go before the election. She is expected to address the public in a national television appearance at 20:00 (19:00 BST) to announce whether she will proceed with her candidacy or hand the responsibility to her 30-year-old protege, Jordan Bardella.
Le Pen has previously expressed that a candidate requires total freedom of movement to hold rallies and engage with voters, making the use of a tag during a campaign period highly problematic. Theoretically, she could petition for the one-year term to be reduced further for good behavior, which would allow her to avoid wearing a tag entirely if she won the two-round race on 18 April 2027 and 2 May. As of now, the ban on holding public office will not impact her, as she has already served the 15-month non-suspended portion of her sentence since her initial conviction on March 31, 2025.
She would not campaign for the presidency while wearing a tag, she told news channel LCI, because "when you're a presidential candidate you need to have total freedom of movement… I can't rely on a judge to allow me to hold a campaign rally or go to a market".
The court's response, delivered months after her appeal was heard in January and February, made clear the judges were not standing in her way.
