Le Pen: date set for appeal that will determine if she can run for president in 2027

Marine Le Pen could be cleared of embezzlement charges by summer 2026, with her appeal scheduled in the Paris courts early next year.

The far-right Rassemblement National (RN) MP and talismanic figure will have her appeal heard between January 13 and February 12, 2026, with a final verdict from the court to be given in the summer of 2026.

If the original conviction is overturned, she will be able to run in any elections from this point onwards, including legislative elections as an MP candidate and the 2027 French presidency.

The news is particularly timely as Ms Le Pen and her party are calling for fresh elections following the ousting of prime minister François Bayrou in a vote of confidence on September 8.

The appeal has been brought forward by the court despite a backlog of other cases due to the ‘anticipation’ surrounding the case.

However, a lawyer defending Ms Le Pen has criticised the courts for moving the hearing forward as it will cause a media stir only a few weeks prior to France’s municipal elections to return councillors and appoint mayors.

“After disrupting the presidential election, [this will] disrupt the municipal elections,” said lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut. 

The municipal elections will be held on March 15 and 22, 2026, after the appeal hearing but before the final verdict. 

The far-right party believes that media attention over the embezzlement case may impact the party in the lead-up to the elections.

The original court ruling in March 2025 found Ms Le Pen and several other senior RN figures guilty for misallocation of over €6.8 million of EU funds. 

These funds were used to pay national party staff members between 2004 and 2016.

It saw Ms Le Pen required to wear an ankle bracelet for four years, fined €100,000, and crucially, banned from running for any political position for five years, although she was able to maintain her current role as MP for the Pas-de-Calais department.

Far-right condemn original conviction 

Outrage from the far-right followed the original conviction of Ms Le Pen, as the original charges saw her banned from running for political office with immediate effect. 

Usually, such a ban is only enforced after an appeal against the conviction (or if no appeal is made) but prosecutors argued – and the court upheld – an exceptional ban from the date of the original conviction. 

Far-right commentators said this was nothing more than a poorly-veiled attack on the party, with the state using extra-judicial practices to prevent Ms Le Pen from running in elections, including crucially the next presidential elections set to take place in 2027.

With the appeal date now set, it will make it clearer how the far-right party is set to tackle upcoming elections. Out of the 25 politicians convicted in the original case, 13 have chosen to appeal.

If the verdict is overturned, Ms Le Pen will be free to run, potentially opening herself up for a fourth bid for the presidency in 2027.

If the original verdict is upheld she will remain banned from running, and it is likely party leader Jordan Bardella will run on the far-right ticket for the position. 

Regardless of who runs, several polls suggest the party is the most popular in France at the moment.