Gambiaj.com – (PARIS, France) – France’s Council of State on Wednesday, October 15, rejected far-right Marine Le Pen’s appeal challenging the immediate application of her five-year ineligibility sentence, a key penalty from her conviction in the long-running European Parliament assistants case.
The president of the National Rally (RN) group in the National Assembly had asked the court to suspend her exclusion from electoral rolls, imposed after her March 31 conviction for misuse of European parliamentary funds.
She was sentenced to four years in prison, including two years to be served under electronic monitoring, a €100,000 fine, and an immediate five-year ban from holding elected office.
The ruling prevents her from standing in any upcoming elections, including the 2027 presidential race, unless overturned on appeal. Her appeal trial is scheduled to run from January 13 to February 12, 2026, with a decision expected before next summer.
Le Pen, along with other far-right RN members, was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme that diverted nearly €4 million of EU funds between 2004 and 2016 to pay party staff.
The judgment struck a heavy blow to her political ambitions, particularly her longstanding plan to run for the presidency in 2027.
In her filing before the Council of State, Le Pen had contested her removal from the electoral roll in April and asked for a priority constitutional question (QPC) to be referred to the Constitutional Council.
She argued that the provisions of the Electoral Code enabling her disqualification were unconstitutional, infringing on “the freedom to stand for election” and “the freedom of voters.”
The Council of State, however, dismissed the request, explaining that her challenge amounted to seeking a modification of the law itself, which lies beyond the powers of the Prime Minister, who had rejected her abrogation request. Consequently, the court also refused to refer her QPC to the Constitutional Council.
The ruling underscores the Council’s role as a filter for constitutional questions, which it may only transmit if the contested provisions are relevant, serious, and not previously addressed. In this case, the public rapporteur noted that the articles invoked by Le Pen were not applicable to her removal from the electoral roll.
If her conviction is overturned on appeal, Le Pen could regain her eligibility and run in 2027. If upheld, however, any attempt to launch a presidential campaign would leave the Constitutional Council—the sole arbiter of national elections—to rule on the validity of her candidacy.
