Perhaps France’s most closely watched legal case has now reached its decisive stage. On Tuesday, the court’s final hearing began, along with a ruling on the appeal filed by French opposition leader Marine Le Pen—a decision that may determine whether she can run in the 2027 presidential election or not.
Le Pen appealed the verdict announced in March 2025, when she and several leaders of her party, Rassemblement National, were convicted of using European Parliament funds to finance the party’s operations in France.
According to prosecutors, money intended for parliamentary assistants was instead used to pay individuals who in practice were working for the party between 2004 and 2016. Le Pen has consistently denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the charges are incorrect and politically motivated.
The original sentence included four years in prison, of which two years were suspended and two served as house arrest with electronic monitoring, as well as a fine of 100,000 euros. However, the most consequential sanction was a five-year ban on standing for public office—a decision that, if upheld, would in effect stop her fourth attempt to become France’s president.
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The appeal was heard in Paris between January and February of this year. The court is now expected to determine whether the previous verdict will stand, be reduced, or overturned. If the ban is lifted, Le Pen could once again become a frontrunner in next year’s presidential race. If it remains, the party’s young leader Jordan Bardella is expected to take over as the presidential candidate.
The legal proceedings have sparked strong reactions both in France and internationally. Supporters describe the prosecution as an attempt to eliminate the country’s leading opposition politician through the judiciary, while critics argue that no one is above the law and that misuse of public funds must have consequences.
From Party Heir to Presidential Frontrunner
Marine Le Pen, born in 1968, is a lawyer and daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the then-Front National. She was elected party leader in 2011, and subsequently initiated a major overhaul to make the party more mainstream and electable to a broader group of voters. As part of this effort, the party changed its name to Rassemblement National in 2018.
Under her leadership, the party has grown from a political outsider to one of France’s largest political forces. Le Pen has run for president three times—2012, 2017, and 2022—and reached the decisive second round both in 2017 and 2022, where she lost to Emmanuel Macron.
Her policies have mainly focused on drastically reducing immigration, tightening border controls, toughening crime policy, increasing national sovereignty, and criticizing European integration. At the same time, she has sought to broaden the party’s profile by focusing on issues such as purchasing power, cost of living, and economic security for French households.
Could Become President
As the 2027 presidential election approaches, opinion polls have long indicated Le Pen as one of the strongest candidates to succeed Macron, who under the French constitution cannot run for a third consecutive term.
This is why the ongoing legal proceedings are viewed as one of the most significant political decisions in France in years—ones that could shape the country’s political future.