Appeals ruling may let Le Pen seek presidency under electronic tag
A Paris appeals court upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction but shortened her office ban, leaving a possible path to a 2027 campaign.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
2 min read
A Paris appeals court has left Marine Le Pen with a possible route into France’s 2027 presidential race while requiring her to wear an electronic tag, Al Jazeera and AFP reported. The ruling matters because Le Pen, the National Rally figurehead and a three-time presidential candidate, has been trying to keep her political future alive after a conviction tied to European Parliament funds.
The court on Tuesday found Le Pen guilty of misusing public money but cut her ban from elected office to 45 months, with 30 months suspended, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. That reduced penalty could allow her to remain a contender in the next presidential election, depending on how the sentence affects her ability to campaign.
Le Pen, 57, now faces the practical and political question of whether she can run for president while wearing a monitoring bracelet as part of a sentence served at home, Al Jazeera and AFP reported. The court decision did not clear her of wrongdoing; it upheld the conviction while easing the political ban imposed by a lower court.
Earlier sentence threatened her campaign plans
A lower court in 2025 had sentenced Le Pen to a five-year ban from public office and two years in prison, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. That case concerned what the agencies described as a fake jobs scam at the European Parliament.
The earlier judgment had put pressure on Le Pen’s plans to compete in the 2027 vote to replace President Emmanuel Macron, described by Al Jazeera and AFP as the outgoing centrist president. Le Pen has run for the presidency three times and remains one of the central figures of France’s far-right National Rally party.
Le Pen has previously said that if her sentence blocked her from campaigning, she would pass responsibility to Jordan Bardella, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. Bardella, 30, leads the National Rally and has been identified as her political lieutenant.
The appeals ruling does not settle how Le Pen will proceed. It narrows the obstacle created by the earlier ban, while leaving in place a criminal conviction and a sentence that includes electronic monitoring at home, according to Al Jazeera and AFP.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.