Marine Le Pen found Guilty but Eligible for the 2027 Presidential Election: Discover the Decision of the Court of Appeal

In the affair of the parliamentary assistants, which seals the political fate of Marine Le Pen, the Paris Court of Appeal rendered its judgment this Tuesday 7th July.

Is Marine Le Pen eligible or not for the next one 2027 presidential election ? This Tuesday 7th July 2026, the Paris Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in the case of the RN’s parliamentary assistants. At first instance, the former president of the Rassemblement national had been found guilty of embezzlement of public funds and sentenced in particular to five years of ineligibility with immediate execution. A decision that directly threatened her candidacy for the Élysée.

Marine Le Pen found guilty

Marine Le Pen is found guilty complicity and embezzlement of public funds. She is condemned to 3 years in prison, including one year under an electronic bracelet. Concerning her ineligibility sentence, she received 45 months, including 30 months suspended. She was also fined 100,000 euros. The party leader left the courthouse without declaration.

Concretely, her ineligibility is purged, Marine Le Pen can run for president in 2027, but under bracelet. As a reminder, the leader of the far right had conditioned her candidacy on the absence of a sentence to wear a bracelet. Clearly, the decision to run or not rests with Marine Le Pen.

At the end of the audience, the former president of the RN headed to the party headquarters to consult with the executives of the National Rally. His speech is obviously very scrutinized. She is due to speak this Tuesday evening, at 8 p.m TF1.

On the side of the other defendants

Marine Le Pen was not alone in the dock. Fernand Le Rachinel, a former National Front MEP, was found guilty of embezzlement of public funds, receiving a 2-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of 15,000 euros. He also received one year of ineligibility.

On the side of the mayor of Perpignan, Louis Aliot is sentenced to a fine of 5,000 euros and two years of ineligibility for embezzlement of public funds. A mandate that he keeps with his role as president of Perpignan Méditerranée Métropole.

Bruno Gollnisch, a former MEP and absent from the hearing, was also found guilty of embezzlement of public funds, receiving 3 years in prison and one year of ineligibility. The convictions of the other defendants have not been detailed.

What next?

For Marine Le Pen, it is in any case the end of a long suspense. Her lawyer says she is “partially” satisfied with the decision. But now the follow-up is expected.

The 57-year-old politician had already assured beforehand that it would “not be possible” for her to campaign with an electronic bracelet. Will she reverse her decision? Appeal to the Court of Cassation? What about Jordan Bardella, current president of the National Rally and candidate expected so far?

A look back at a historic trial

The affair of the RN’s parliamentary assistants dates back to 2014. At first instance, on March 31, 2025, the criminal court found 25 defendants guilty of the establishment of a “system” between 2004 and 2016 to pay party employees with money from the European Parliament. Among them, Marine Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison, including two years convertible under electronic bracelets, a fine of 100,000 euros and five years of ineligibility with provisional execution. Only some of the convicts, including Marine Le Pen, appealed.

In its judgment of March 2025, the court established Parliament’s prejudice to 3.2 million euros, once deducted 1.1 million euros already reimbursed by some of the defendants.

During the appeal trial, the public prosecutor’s office requested confirmation of the sentence five years of ineligibility. On the other hand, he had requested a sentence of four years’ imprisonment, three of which were suspended, the firm part being able to be fitted out under an electronic bracelet.