Paris Appeals Court Upholds Marine Le Pen Conviction, Sets Terms for 2027 Presidential Bid

A Paris appeals court upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction for misusing European Union funds and set the terms of her 2027 presidential bid, including a three-year jail term with two years suspended and one year served at home with an electronic monitoring tag.

Le Pen, 57, told TF1 she intends to run in the French presidential election next year, saying, “There is no longer any scenario in which I could not run in 2027,” and she added, “Otherwise, Sir, I would not be here this evening to tell you that I am a candidate in the presidential election.”

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CNN reported the appeals court effectively reduced the amount of time she is barred from running for office to just 15 months, while ordering a €100,000 fine.

The AP described how the ruling could determine whether one of France’s leading presidential contenders can run, noting that Le Pen is appealing a March 2025 conviction that found her and other National Rally members guilty of misusing European Parliament funds by paying party staff with money intended for EU parliamentary assistants between 2004 and 2016.

Le Pen said the electronic monitoring requirement would not stop her, telling LCI last week, “When you are a presidential candidate, you need to be completely free to move about, and that is not the case if you are wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet,” while CNN reported she said her further appeal to the Cour de Cassation would put her sentence on hold.

The AP laid out how the appeals court could still leave open multiple outcomes, including a scenario where the appeals court clears her of all charges or reduces the ban on holding elected office to two years or less.

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AP also reported that Le Pen said she would not wait to make her decision, warning, “You can’t launch a presidential campaign at the last minute,” as France’s presidential race is expected to begin taking shape in September.

France 24 described the “catch” that Le Pen would have to wear an electronic bracelet until July of next year, while noting that the court decision “clears way for 2027 presidential run” by watering down her ineligibility to 30 months.

With the appeals court ruling shaping the legal path to candidacy, the AP said that if Le Pen is barred from running, her longtime protégé Jordan Bardella, 30, could become the party’s presidential candidate, reshaping the race to succeed President Emmanuel Macron.

CNN reported that Le Pen launched her campaign on social media with the slogan “For France, a Renaissance,” writing on X, “We launch this presidential campaign tonight to work toward the rebirth of France,” and it said she and Bardella would be together throughout the presidential campaign.

Le Monde reported Le Pen confirmed that Bardella would be her prime minister if she is elected president in 2027, and it quoted her saying, “I believe this duo is a winning one.”

In the background, AP said Le Pen’s lower-court sentence included a five-year ban on holding elected office that took immediate effect on March 31 last year, and it noted that the Court of Cassation has previously said it would seek to issue a ruling before the 2027 presidential election.