Paris Appeal Court to Rule on Marine Le Pen Embezzlement Conviction

A Paris appeal court will announce its verdict at 13:30 local time today on Marine Le Pen's appeal against her March 2025 embezzlement conviction. The court will decide whether to uphold the five-year ban from public office that prevents her from running for president in 2027.

Le Pen was convicted of misusing €1.4 million in European Parliament funds between 2004 and 2016 to pay National Rally staff instead of parliamentary assistants.

Background to the case The original trial found Le Pen guilty of approving or tolerating the scheme while she served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017. She received a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended and two years to be served at home under electronic monitoring.

Prosecutors are seeking to maintain the five-year office ban along with a modified prison term of one year with electronic monitoring and three years suspended.

Possible outcomes If acquitted, Le Pen would be eligible to run for president.

A guilty verdict with a ban exceeding two years would bar her from the 2027 election, as the original ban clock has continued running since March 2025. A reduced ban of two years or less would allow her to stand. If the court imposes the electronic monitoring prosecutors requested, Le Pen would serve one year under the tag rather than two.

Le Pen stated last week that she cannot campaign effectively while wearing an electronic tag and would not appeal a guilty verdict to France's Court of Cassation.

role National Rally chairman Jordan Bardella has been designated as Le Pen's replacement candidate if she is barred from running. Bardella, who turns 31 in September, currently leads Le Pen in some polls for the first round of the presidential election.