A French court of appeal has upheld Marine Le Pen's conviction for embezzling European Parliament funds but shortened her ban on running for elected office.
The decision potentially reopens a narrow path for the far-right leader to compete in the 2027 presidential race.
The court handed Le Pen a three-year jail term, with two years suspended and one year requiring an electronic ankle tag.
This custodial sentence could make a presidential campaign politically and logistically difficult for the head of the anti-immigration National Rally (RN) party.
Le Pen previously suggested she would not run if handed an adjusted custodial sentence that restricted her movements or required an electronic tag.
“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.
Her exact position remained unclear immediately after the verdict, as a different judge will consider the precise workings of the electronic monitoring at a later date.
The far-right figurehead appeared in court alongside allies from her party’s parliament group and is expected to announce her decision regarding the presidency later on Tuesday.
The Paris court determined that Le Pen, 57, played a central role in orchestrating a fake-jobs scam to embezzle European Parliament funds between 2004 and 2016.
The illicitly acquired funds were funneled to pay her party in Paris during a scheme described by prosecutors as unprecedented in size and duration.
Le Pen received a shortened period of ineligibility of 15 months, with the remaining 30 months suspended, alongside a €100,000 (£85,000) fine.
Jordan Bardella, 30, the current party president handling day-to-day operations, remains on standby as a potential replacement candidate if Le Pen cannot run.
Le Pen previously stated that she would support Bardella, her protege, with energy, confidence, and conviction if the situation required it.
Recent polls suggest that Bardella, who heads the Patriots for Europe grouping, could make the final-round runoff, with some polls showing his support exceeding Le Pen's.
If Le Pen does not stand, next year’s election would be the first presidential vote in nearly 30 years without a member of the Le Pen family running.
Le Pen aimed to run for president for a fourth time next spring following the conclusion of Emmanuel Macron’s two terms in office.
She was twice beaten by Macron in the final run-off, in 2017 and in 2022, when she increased her score to more than 41%.
Le Pen faced a five-year immediate voting ban last March after being found guilty during a first trial regarding the extensive European Parliament fake jobs scam.
She appealed last year's verdict, leading to a fresh trial at Paris’s court of appeal this year to fight for her political future.
She argued to the court that no systematic misuse of European Parliament funds existed and stated they did not feel they committed any crime.
State prosecutors countered that Le Pen was at the center of a thought-out, centralized, and almost industrial system to embezzle funds.
They stated that taxpayer money allocated for assistants in Strasbourg or Brussels was siphoned by the Front National party to pay workers in France.
The staff in France had no connection to European Parliament operations, creating an estimated loss to European funds of €4.8m (£4.2m).
State prosecutor Thierry Ramonatxo criticized Le Pen for her public attacks on the judiciary, following her previous claims of a tyranny of judges.
Ramonatxo stated that judges simply apply the law voted for by parliament and criticized her choice to attack judges on the political stage.
“Speaking of a ‘tyranny of judges’, of a ‘violation of the state of law’ or of ‘political assassination’ is not part of the judicial debate in a democratic society.
It is not part of a debate of ideas but rather is aimed at discrediting all judicial actions in their entirety,” Ramonatxo said.
Ramonatxo added that her choices were dangerous and had exposed judges to death threats due to the political nature of the attacks.
At the original trial, 24 party members were convicted, and Le Pen appealed alongside 10 others, prompting reactions from the international populist right.
Le Pen previously expressed her view on the judicial situation to La Tribune Dimanche following the initial trial results.
“There was a time when you could take a bullet. Now you can take a judicial bullet.
In reality, that means your death,” Le Pen said.
