Overview

• France’s administrative court applied the Legion of Honour’s rules to revoke his Grand Cross after his December conviction for corrupting a judge and illegal influence
• By law anyone sentenced to a year or more in prison automatically forfeits their membership in the order
• President Emmanuel Macron had sought to shield his predecessor but relatives of past honorees successfully pressed for a judicial ruling
• Sarkozy is due to face trial this autumn over allegations he received Libyan campaign funds from Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2007
• He follows Vichy leader Philippe Pétain as the only French head of state ever stripped of the Legion of Honour