Insight into legalities that allowed Le Pen to launch campaign for French presidency

Within hours of a Paris appeals court confirming her conviction for the misuse of public funds on July 7, career right-wing politician Marine Le Pen defiantly declared she would run in next year's French presidential election and wasted little time launching her campaign on social media.

While the appeals court upheld the guilty verdict, it reduced both elements of her original sentence. The court shortened her ban from holding public office to 45 months, with 30 months suspended, French media outlets reported. As the remaining 15 months began running from the lower court's ruling in March 2025, Le Pen will be eligible to contest the next presidential election.

Le Pen, who transformed the far-right National Rally (RN) from a fringe movement into the largest single party in France's parliament, was convicted in March 2025 of misusing European Parliament funds during her time as an MEP and party leader.

The court also sentenced the 57-year-old to three years in prison, with two years suspended and the remaining year to be served under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor.

The ruling surprised many in France, where political observers had widely expected the appeals court to uphold the original five-year ban from public office, a decision that would likely have ended Le Pen's presidential ambitions.

Having twice lost presidential runoffs to liberal centrist President Emmanuel Macron, who is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term, Le Pen enters the next election cycle in one of the strongest political positions of her career, buoyed by favourable opinion polls.

The RN had already begun preparing for the possibility that its 30-year-old president, Jordan Bardella, would replace her as the party's presidential candidate. However, Le Pen's decision to appeal to France's highest court postpones that scenario, at least until the Court of Cassation issues its ruling.

Addressing supporters after the verdict, Le Pen said she intended to "exhaust all the legal avenues available to me in order to defend my innocence in this case," insisting that "the people will decide."

She argued that filing an appeal with the Court of Cassation would suspend enforcement of the order requiring her to wear an electronic ankle monitor until a final judgment is delivered.

"Tonight, I am a candidate in the presidential election," she declared.

Le Pen and her legal team may be counting on the traditionally slow pace of proceedings at the Court of Cassation. Should a final ruling be delayed until after next year's election, and if she were to win the presidency, she could benefit from presidential immunity for the duration of her five-year term.

However, given the case's political significance, the court could accelerate its review. If it rules before the election, Le Pen may still be required to wear an electronic ankle monitor during the closing stages of the campaign—a visible reminder of her conviction.

While such a development is unlikely to deter her core supporters, it could prove less appealing to the more conservative voters Le Pen has sought to attract in recent years, potentially complicating her efforts to broaden the National Rally's electoral base.

By Nazrin Sadigova