A French appeals court on Tuesday upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction for misusing European Union funds but reduced her ban from seeking public office, leaving open the possibility for the far-right leader to contest France’s 2027 presidential election.
However, the court also handed Le Pen a three-year prison sentence, with two years suspended and one year to be served under electronic monitoring. The ruling could make a presidential campaign both politically and logistically challenging.
It is now up to Le Pen to decide whether she will seek to become modern France’s first far-right president. She is scheduled to appear in a prime-time interview on TF1 at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), where she may announce her political plans.
Le Pen has previously said she would be unwilling to campaign for the presidency while serving a sentence under electronic monitoring, arguing that it would hinder campaigning and damage her credibility. She has yet to reveal her decision.
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Leaving the courtroom, Le Pen smiled but declined to comment. She later headed to the headquarters of her anti-immigration party, the National Rally (RN), to discuss the next steps.
Le Pen was convicted in March 2025 of embezzling public funds and immediately barred for five years from holding public office, effectively preventing what would have been her fourth presidential bid.
Under Tuesday’s appeal ruling, Le Pen is barred from public office for 45 months, with 30 months suspended. Since she has already served the 15-month active portion of the ban, which began after last year’s ruling, she will be eligible to stand in the April 2027 presidential election.
Will Le Pen campaign while wearing an electronic tag?
The ruling is expected to fuel debate within the National Rally, which has spent months preparing for two possible scenarios: one with Le Pen as its candidate and another led by party president Jordan Bardella.
The electronic tag forms part of the reduced prison sentence, meaning Le Pen will not have to serve time behind bars.
A sentencing judge will determine the conditions of the monitoring, including when she may leave home, and the time she must return each evening. Weekend restrictions are typically stricter.
A judicial source said the electronic tag would likely complicate a nationwide presidential campaign because she would need to return home every night, though it would probably not make campaigning impossible. The source added that Le Pen could also request the removal of the tag after several months if she demonstrates good behaviour.
Opinion polls have consistently shown both National Rally figures as leading contenders to reach the presidential runoff, with some recent surveys indicating Bardella could outperform Le Pen in the first round.
Le Pen’s conviction stems from allegations that National Rally officials diverted European Parliament funds intended for parliamentary assistants to pay party staff in France. Judges in 2025 found that Le Pen had played a central role in the scheme, a conclusion she has repeatedly denied.
The original ruling drew criticism from Le Pen’s supporters in France and abroad, who accused the judiciary of interfering in the democratic process. Her opponents maintained that elected officials should be subject to the same legal standards as all other citizens.
“What is essential for us, what we have been saying for years, is that they misappropriated, stole public money, European taxpayers’ money,” the European Parliament’s lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve, told reporters. “We have been saying this for years, and it has now been confirmed for the second time: first by the lower court, and today by the Court of Appeal.”
