Le Pen convicted on appeal: 45‑month ineligibility, but she can still run in 2027

Brussels – Marine Le Pen will be able to stand as a candidate in the 2027 French presidential election. The Paris Court of Appeal today (7 July) sentenced her to 45 months’ ineligibility, 30 of which are suspended, a lighter sentence than the one handed down at first instance, which had imposed a five-year ban on standing for election with immediate effect and would effectively have prevented her from running for the Élysée next year. However, the court also imposed a one-year sentence to be served with an electronic bracelet and a 100,000 euro fine. According to Le Monde, the announcement of the sentences caused astonishment in the courtroom; the leader of the Rassemblement National remained unmoved and left the courthouse without making any statements. 

According to the conviction, Le Pen will be able to run, but in recent months she had been saying that she would not conduct an election campaign “as a woman who is not free,” thus apparently ruling out the possibility of a bid for the Élysée — which, at this point, for the far‑right party would likely fall to the young Jordan Bardella.

The president of the court, Michèle Agi, explained that “the enforcement of the ineligibility sentence since 31 March 2025 has already remedied the breach of probity.” The judges also stated that they had taken into account “the freedom to stand for election” and “the free will of the electorate,” which they regarded as “conditions of democratic expression,” when handing down the sentence. 

Le Pen had been found guilty of misappropriating European public funds in her capacity as a former MEP and of complicity in the same conduct in her capacity as former party leader. She, along with the Rassemblement National and several senior officials, had been accused of having the European Parliament pay staff members between 2004 and 2016, while they were allegedly working for the party. The Rassemblement National, as a legal entity, was ordered on appeal to pay a fine of 2 million euros – one million of which was suspended – and to forfeit one million euros. Lighter sentences were also handed down to a dozen party leaders. 

Article written with the assistance of AI.