Court upholds Marine Le Pen’s conviction but allows her to run for president next year

PARIS (AP) — French far-right leader Marine Le Pen will be allowed to run for president in next year’s election, after a court on Tuesday reduced her ban on holding elected office. However, the court ruled that she must wear an electronic ankle bracelet for a year, casting her potential run into doubt.

The court also upheld Le Pen’s March 2025 conviction for misusing European Parliament funds.

The verdict is set to reshape the 2027 contest to replace President Emmanuel Macron. The constitution prevents Macron from seeking a third consecutive term.

Le Pen, 57, had appealed a 2025 conviction that found her and other members of her National Rally party guilty of misusing European Parliament funds by paying party staff with money intended for EU parliamentary assistants between 2004 and 2016.

The lower court sentenced her to prison time, suspended pending appeal, and imposed a five-year ban on holding elected office.

Le Pen has denied any wrongdoing. She had hoped to mount a fourth bid for the presidency. Although the verdict shortened her ban on running for office, she has suggested that it wouldn’t be possible for her to campaign with an ankle bracelet on.

“If I’m allowed to be a candidate but am effectively prevented from campaigning freely, then you understand that wouldn’t be possible,” Le Pen said in an interview last week.

Tuesday’s verdict is also likely to reverberate across the European Union. If Le Pen does not run, her protege Jordan Bardella would replace her. Bardella, 30, is the current president of the anti-immigration, E.U.-skeptic National Rally.

Le Pen could still appeal to the Court of Cassation, France’s highest court, but it’s unclear whether judges would suspend the sentence pending a final ruling.

The Court of Cassation has previously said that, if asked to review the case, it would seek to issue a ruling before the 2027 presidential election.

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