Paris court to rule on Marine Le Pen's eligibility for the 2027 presidential election

The charges

Marine Le Pen and ten other National Rally (formerly National Front) figures are accused of setting up a system between 2004 and 2016 to pay EU-funded parliamentary assistants who actually worked for the party. The appeal trial ran from 13 January to 11 February 2026 before the first chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal, presided over by Michèle Agi. In the first instance, on 31 March 2025, Le Pen was convicted of misappropriation of public funds and sentenced to four years in prison (two suspended), a €100,000 fine, and five years of ineligibility with immediate execution. She appealed immediately.

The prosecution's request

On 3 February 2026, the general prosecutor's office asked the court to impose four years in prison (one year firm, to be served under electronic monitoring, and three suspended), a €100,000 fine, and again five years of ineligibility, this time without provisional execution. The defence pleaded for acquittal or, failing that, a suspended sentence. Legal specialists cited in the French press consider an acquittal highly unlikely and expect the judges to follow the prosecution's line on guilt, though the final penalty remains uncertain.

What the verdict means for 2027

Three broad scenarios emerge. An acquittal or an ineligibility period of less than two years would allow Le Pen to run, because the ineligibility clock started on 31 March 2025 and would expire before the April 2027 election. A sentence matching the prosecution's request (five years of ineligibility) would block her candidacy unless she appeals to the Court of Cassation and obtains a suspension of the penalty, a process whose timing is unpredictable. Le Pen has also stated she would not stand if she is required to wear an electronic bracelet during the campaign.

If the requisitions are followed, I will be prevented from running.

The political backup plan

Jordan Bardella, the 30-year-old party president since 2022, is the obvious replacement if Le Pen is barred. Several reports note that Bardella has already been campaigning for weeks, and the party apparatus is preparing for a handover. Le Pen, 57, has been the National Rally's presidential candidate three times (2012, 2017, 2022) and currently leads all polls for the first and second rounds of the 2027 contest.

The atmosphere in court

The verdict will be read at 1:30 p.m. on 7 July in the historic first chamber, where Philippe Pétain was tried in 1945 and where Nicolas Sarkozy appeared earlier this year. Some 574 journalists from 100 media outlets have been accredited. Le Pen has said she is "not afraid" of the decision, but the stakes are enormous: for the first time in nearly thirty years, there may be no Le Pen on the presidential starting line.