---
title: "French court upholds Le Pen's conviction but clears her path to run in 2027"
description: "A French appeals court on Tuesday upheld Marine Le Pen's conviction for misusing European Parliament funds but sharply reduced the ban on her holding public office, lifting the main legal barrier that had threatened to keep the far-right leader out of the 2027 presidential race. She was also given a three-year sentence, most of it suspended, and will wear an electronic monitor rather than go to prison."
category: "World"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/world
author: "Mei-Lin Tang"
published: 2026-07-07T13:52:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-07T13:52:00.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/french-court-upholds-le-pens-conviction-but-clears-her-path-to-run-in-2027
tags: ["marine-le-pen", "france", "national-rally", "2027-election", "courts"]
---
# French court upholds Le Pen's conviction but clears her path to run in 2027

A French appeals court on Tuesday upheld Marine Le Pen's conviction for misusing European Parliament funds but sharply reduced the ban on her holding public office, lifting the main legal barrier that had threatened to keep the far-right leader out of the 2027 presidential race. She was also given a three-year sentence, most of it suspended, and will wear an electronic monitor rather than go to prison.

A ruling that many expected to end Marine Le Pen's presidential ambitions instead reopened them. A Paris appeals court on Tuesday confirmed her conviction in a European Union funds case but softened the penalty that had barred her from office, leaving her, at least legally, free to run for president in 2027, [Euronews reported](https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/07/07/french-court-upholds-le-pens-fraud-conviction-threatening-2027-presidential-bid).

## What the court decided

The court upheld the finding that Ms. Le Pen and other figures in her party misused funds from the European Parliament, an arrangement prosecutors said diverted EU money meant for parliamentary work to pay party staff. But it reduced the centerpiece of the earlier punishment: a five-year ban on holding public office imposed in March 2025 was cut to an effective ban of about 15 months, [France 24 reported](https://www.france24.com/en/le-pen-sentenced-to-15-month-ban-from-public-office-in-eu-embezzlement-case).

On the prison sentence, the court handed down three years, with two suspended and the remaining year to be served under an electronic ankle monitor rather than behind bars, [Al Jazeera reported](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/7/france-appeals-court-opens-door-for-le-pen-presidential-run-with-ankle-tag). The practical upshot: the legal obstacle that had appeared likely to sideline her for 2027 was lifted.

## Cleared to run, but undecided

Being allowed to run is not the same as running. Ms. Le Pen suggested she would not mount a campaign hemmed in by court-imposed conditions on her movement. "When you're a presidential candidate, you need to be completely free to move around," she said, adding that she could not "depend on a magistrate" to let her attend a rally, [France 24 reported](https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20260707-french-court-clears-way-for-far-right-leader-le-pen-to-run-in-2027-with-ankle-bracelet). She was expected to say more about her intentions in the hours after the ruling.

## The party's succession question

The verdict also bears on the future of the National Rally, the party Ms. Le Pen has led to the brink of power. Her 30-year-old protégé, Jordan Bardella, the party's president, had been widely discussed as the candidate who would carry its banner if she were barred. The ruling scrambles that calculation, restoring Ms. Le Pen as a possible standard-bearer while leaving open whether she or Mr. Bardella will ultimately run.

## A polarizing case

The case has been contentious in France, with Ms. Le Pen's allies casting the prosecution as politically motivated and her opponents insisting it was an ordinary application of the law to a serious misuse of public money. Tuesday's outcome, upholding the wrongdoing but easing the penalty, gave neither side a clean victory. What it did do was return one of the most consequential questions in French politics, whether Marine Le Pen will be on the 2027 ballot, to Ms. Le Pen herself.