Marine Le Pen’s Paris appeal opens - verdict could shape 2027 race

Marine Le Pen appeared in a Paris appeals court on Jan. 13 as judges began a five-week rehearing of a March 2025 conviction that currently bars her from holding public office. The appeal, involving Le Pen and 11 other defendants, challenges a first-instance judgment that found European Parliament funds intended for parliamentary assistants were diverted to national party work, and imposed penalties that together threaten her ability to mount a 2027 presidential campaign.

The lower court in March 2025 sentenced Le Pen to a four-year prison term, with two years suspended and two years to be served under house arrest with an electronic bracelet, fined her €100,000 and ordered a five-year ban on holding public or elected office to take immediate effect. The National Rally (RN) party was ordered to pay €2 million in relation to roughly €4.1 million alleged to have been misused. The appeal opened before a three-judge panel that has set a compact timetable so the court can reach a decision well before the expected start of the 2027 campaign season; hearings are scheduled through roughly Feb. 12, with a verdict possible before the summer of 2026.

Courtroom seats were filled with journalists and members of the public as photographers and courtroom sketch artists documented the proceedings. Le Pen arrived without speaking to reporters, though she had said the eve before, "I hope I'll be able to convince the judges of my innocence," and has labeled the case a "democratic scandal." Veteran National Rally member Bruno Gollnisch has defended the party's practices, reflecting a long-running argument that EU parliamentary assistants often performed national political roles and characterizing politics as "a collective sport."

At the heart of the appeal is legal interpretation: prosecutors and judges at first instance concluded that assistants paid from European Parliament budgets were in practice carrying out domestic political work for the then-National Front, breaching EU rules governing MEP staffing. Le Pen's defense contends that the duties were legitimate parliamentary work, and that the sanctions imposed were disproportionate and politically motivated. The appeals court will re-examine evidence, roles performed by assistants, and whether the conduct amounted to criminal misuse of EU funds.

The immediate effect of the five-year ban has already reshaped French political calculations. Le Pen had been widely considered a leading contender to challenge President Emmanuel Macron in 2027. If the appeals court upholds the ban, attention is likely to shift toward Jordan Bardella, the RN's young president and Le Pen protégé, who at 30 has been discussed as a possible standard-bearer and who some polls have suggested could be more electable than Le Pen herself.

Prosecutors have signaled that sentences could be adjusted on appeal and argued that penalties might be higher in theory, with maximums sometimes cited well above the first-instance rulings. Whatever the outcome, the court's decision will have immediate political consequences for the shape of France's right and for preparations across the political spectrum as parties begin to position for the coming presidential contest.

The appeals hearing will continue into February, and any final ruling will determine whether the immediate five-year ineligibility is lifted in time to clear Le Pen to run in 2027, or whether France's far-right will need to pursue an alternative path to the presidency.