Overview

• France’s highest administrative court refused to transmit Marine Le Pen’s constitutional challenge, leaving the provisional enforcement of her ineligibility intact.
• The court found the regulatory provisions she targeted either did not exist or were unrelated and said her petition effectively sought to change the law, which the prime minister cannot do.
• Her removal from the electoral rolls in April stands, barring her from running in presidential or legislative contests while the ban applies.
• The first-instance conviction in the European Parliament assistants case included a four-year prison sentence, a €100,000 fine and five years of ineligibility for alleged misuse of funds estimated at about €3.2 million.
• The Paris Court of Appeal is scheduled to hear the case from January 13 to February 12, 2026, offering the next opportunity to alter her eligibility.