Paris Appeals Court Upholds Le Pen Conviction but Reduces Office Ban to 15 Months

A Paris appeals court ruled Tuesday that Marine Le Pen may stand in France’s 2027 presidential election. The court upheld her conviction for misusing European Parliament funds but reduced the office ban to 15 months. The decision followed Le Pen’s appeal of a March 2025 lower-court verdict.

That ruling had sentenced her to four years in prison, two suspended with the rest under home detention, and a five-year ban from elected office. The lower court also ordered Le Pen to pay a €100,000 fine and fined her political party €2 million, half of it suspended.

The lower court found that Le Pen and 24 others used European Parliament funds between 2004 and 2016 to pay staff working for her political party rather than for parliamentary duties.

Prosecutors had requested a five-year ban and a four-year prison term with three years suspended during the appeal. Le Pen told the court that any offense occurred without awareness of wrongdoing and denied the existence of a coordinated scheme. The appeals court rejected the full five-year ban but left the conviction in place.

Le Pen may now appeal the 15-month ban to France’s highest court, the Cour de Cassation. She has previously stated she would not run if final resolution of the case extends past the campaign period.