France's Top Court Reduces Le Pen's Punishment—She Can Still Run for President
On July 7, 2026, a court in Paris said Marine Le Pen is guilty of misusing public money, but it reduced her punishment compared to what a lower court had decided the year before. Al Jazeera This matters because the lighter sentence means she can still run for president in 2027.
Le Pen had been banned from holding political office for five years by the first court. The appeals court cut that to 15 months that she actually has to sit out—the other 30 months are suspended, meaning they won't be enforced unless she breaks the rules again. Al Jazeera The original case came from a scheme where her party used fake jobs in the European Parliament to secretly move money around. Reuters
The court also changed how Le Pen will serve her prison time. Instead of going to jail, she will stay home and wear an electronic tag on her ankle to track her location. Al Jazeera She was sentenced to four years in prison, but only two years of that are firm; the other two can be suspended. She also has to pay a €100,000 fine. Mediapart
The original court decision in 2025 had surprised many legal experts because it banned her from office right away, without waiting for the appeal process to finish. Cour de cassation That ban hit her party, the National Rally, hard—they had started planning to run their younger leader, Jordan Bardella, if she was barred from campaigning.
Now Le Pen, 57, has a real chance to run for president in 2027, when French voters will choose someone to replace current President Emmanuel Macron. Al Jazeera She has tried to become president three times before.
The court said Le Pen did break campaign finance rules, so the guilt finding stands. But by making the sentence lighter and letting her serve time at home, the appeals court followed a practice that French judges use more often now for politicians and business leaders—keeping them out of prison while still punishing them for their crimes. This approach allowed her to stay visible and active in politics, rather than disappearing from public view while her case went through the courts.
