In a press release on Tuesday evening, the Paris Court of Appeal said that it will decide by the “summer of 2026” on Marine Le Pen’s appeal against the ruling this week to ban her from standing in any election for the next five years over a controversial embezzlement conviction over EU funds during her time as a member of the European Parliament.
“The Paris Court of Appeal confirms having received today three appeals filed against the decision rendered on March 31, 2025, by the Paris judicial court in the case of the parliamentary assistants of the National Front. It will examine this file within a time frame which should allow a decision to be rendered in the summer of 2026,” the court said, according to Le Figaro.
Responding to the decision, Le Pen said it was “very good news”. However, she went on to say that she intends to challenge the ruling in other venues as well, including France’s Constitutional Council and the European Court of Human Rights.
“I will use all possible avenues of appeal. I won’t let it happen,” she told Le Parisien.
While other politicians in France have faced similar bans from running for office after being convicted of similar offences, such as former Prime Minister François Fillon, none have been on the scale of Le Pen’s case, given her status as the clear frontrunner to become the country’s next president.
She has also argued that the move by the court to enact the ban on her seeking office during the appeal is a violation of the rule of law, as those in the appeal process are typically afforded the presumption of innocence, and therefore, enacting the ban during the appeal ignores such precedent. In addition to facing an election ban, Le Pen was also sentenced to a four-year prison sentence and a 100,000 euro fine for allegedly using EU funds to pay for political activities in France.
The former head of the centre-right Les Républicains, Éric Ciotti, who broke ranks with his party last year to side with Le Pen and the National Rally during the legislative elections, said that he intends to table a motion in the French parliament to disallow the legislature to impose a provisional ban on candidates running for office during the appeal process, as the Paris court did in Le Pen’s case.
Commenting on the prospect of Ciotti’s measure to reject the legality of the pre-emptive ban in the National Assembly, Le Pen said that she has a “tenuous hope” that other politicians would show the “courage” to reject the principle of using lawfare against political candidates.
The populist leader noted that even fierce political rivals, such as far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, have objected to the Paris court’s decision as undermining the democratic process. Yet, Le Pen acknowledged that many may choose to abstain from the vote, so as not to contradict their public statements but to still rid themselves of a major political foe.
Barring the National Assembly siding with her or a successful appeal, there is potentially still one more avenue left open for Le Pen to take power. If she is still banned from entering the presidential race in 2027, the torch would likely be passed to her longstanding deputy and current president of her National Rally party, Jordan Bardella.
Bardella, 29, a loyal devotee of Le Pen’s, had long been tapped as her eventual successor. The stated planned transfer of power within the party was intended to occur after Le Pen’s final bid to win the presidency, putting Bardella on pace to become the candidate to replace her in 2032. However, with the legal troubles facing Le Pen, Bardella could be forced into running earlier than expected.
While Bardella had been on course to serve as Le Pen’s prime minister in 2027, should he win the presidency instead, Bardella could appoint Le Pen as his prime minister. This is the second most powerful role in the French system, and it typically involves leading the domestic government and introducing legislation.
Following the ruling to ban her from standing in the election, Bardella refused to rule out the scenario of him becoming president and appointing Le Pen as his prime minister.
However, he said per The Times: “I have always done what she has asked me to do… The French people know I have a debt towards her. I make you a promise this morning: we started this job together and we will finish it together.”
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