A Paris appeals court cleared the path for far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen to run in the 2027 French presidential election, abruptly shifting the country’s political trajectory amid deep partisan division. The court upheld her conviction for a €2.8 million European Parliament embezzlement scam that ran from 2004 to 2016. It critically reduced her ban on holding public office from 60 months down to 45 months. Because that ban applies retroactively to her initial March 2025 conviction, she has already cleared the required 15 non-suspended months.
The 57-year-old politician also received a three-year prison sentence, with two years suspended. The ruling mandates she serve the final year under house arrest wearing an electronic ankle monitor. Hours after the July 7 verdict, Le Pen officially announced her presidential candidacy during a prime-time TF1 television interview.
She confirmed she is immediately appealing the verdict to France’s highest court, the Cour de Cassation. Under French law, this legal maneuver automatically suspends the sentence. This allows her to campaign across the country without the electronic tag. She also confirmed her 30-year-old party lieutenant, Jordan Bardella, will run on her ticket as prime minister.
If Le Pen wins the presidency before the high court issues a definitive ruling, she automatically gains presidential immunity for her entire term in office. That protection effectively shields her from the ankle monitor and prison sentence until she steps down.
Political rivals quickly criticized the immediate campaign launch. Centrist former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal warned her candidacy is “hanging by a legal thread” and stressed the moral dimension of the race. Manuel Bompard of the radical left La France Insoumise called her immediate pivot to campaigning extraordinary.
Le Pen previously failed in three bids for the presidency. Constitutional experts note no leading candidate in modern French history has ever run a campaign carrying an active corruption conviction.