Overview
- The appeal opens Tuesday, January 13, is scheduled to run through February 12, and a ruling is expected after deliberations before summer 2026.
- Le Pen was convicted on March 31, 2025, of misusing European Parliament funds and sentenced to four years in prison, including two firm, a €100,000 fine, and five years of ineligibility enforceable immediately.
- The court can lift the provisional enforcement, reduce ineligibility to two years, or acquit her, and any confirmation could still be challenged before the Cour de cassation, which has signaled it would try to rule before 2027 if seized.
- The Rassemblement National was also penalized in first instance with €2 million in fines, including €1 million firm, and the confiscation of €1 million seized during the investigation.
- Le Pen maintains her innocence, and party leader Jordan Bardella argues it would be troubling for democracy if the justice system prevented voters from having a presidential candidate.