Paris, France. A French appeal court on Tuesday upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction for misusing EU funds but shortened her ban on running for public office, preserving in theory a path for the far-right leader to run in the 2027 presidential election. The court also sentenced her to a three-year jail term, with two years suspended and one to be served with an electronic ankle tag.
Appeal ruling and political eligibility
Le Pen had been convicted in March 2025 of embezzlement and banned for five years with immediate effect from holding public office, preventing her from making a fourth bid for the Elysee Palace.
Under Tuesday’s appeal judgment, Le Pen is ineligible to hold public office for 45 months, 30 of which are suspended. That means she will be eligible to stand when voters go to the polls in April 2027, because she has already served the 15-month ban that has been running since last year’s ruling.
Sentence and campaign implications
The appeal court sentenced Le Pen to a three-year jail term, with two years suspended and one year to be served under electronic monitoring. The electronic tag was stipulated as part of a softened jail sentence, meaning she would not have to go to jail.
Le Pen previously said she would be reluctant to wage a presidential campaign while serving a sentence under electronic monitoring, saying it would interfere with campaigning and undermine her credibility. She has not yet confirmed what she will do.
Next steps for Le Pen and RN
It is now up to Le Pen to say whether she will run to become modern France’s first far-right president. She is due to give a prime-time television interview on TF1 at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), during which she may make an announcement on her political future.
As she left the courtroom, Le Pen was smiling but did not speak. She then went to the headquarters of her party, the anti-immigrant National Rally (RN), to discuss the next steps.
Party debate over 2027 race
The decision is likely to trigger intense debate within the RN, which has spent months preparing for two possible futures: one led by Le Pen and another by party president Jordan Bardella.
