Paris Appeals Court to Rule Tuesday on Whether Marine Le Pen May Run in 2027 Presidential Election

A Paris appeals court will rule on Tuesday on Marine Le Pen's appeal of a five-year ban from holding public office. The ban stems from a March 2025 lower court conviction that found Le Pen and 24 others guilty of embezzling European Parliament funds to pay National Rally staff in France between 2004 and 2016. The court also imposed a four-year prison sentence with two years suspended.

Le Pen has served the ban since 31 March 2025. Le Pen, 57, leads France's far-right National Rally party and has appealed the verdict along with 11 others. The appeals court could acquit her, shorten the ban, lift it, or uphold it with immediate effect.

The ruling will determine whether Le Pen or her 30-year-old protégé Jordan Bardella becomes the party's candidate in the first round of the presidential election scheduled for 18 April 2027. Le Pen came third in 2012 and lost runoffs to Emmanuel Macron in 2017 and 2022. “I’m not scared,” Le Pen said this week.

She added that she could not launch a campaign at the last minute or depend on a judge to authorize campaigning.