France: Marine Le Pen declared ineligible for 5 years in the European parliamentary assistants case

On Monday, March 31, the Paris Criminal Court found Marine Le Pen, leader and head of the National Rally (Rassemblement National) parliamentary group, guilty of misappropriation of public funds. She was sentenced to four years of imprisonment, two of which are to be served under electronic surveillance (house arrest), along with a five-year ineligibility sentence that applies immediately (provisional enforcement).

Twenty-four individuals, along with the National Front (FN) – now known as the National Rally (RN) – were convicted in the case concerning European parliamentary assistants. The European Parliament was awarded damages, with different amounts depending on the defendant. The court ordered immediate payment of these compensations. The National Front and its leaders at the time were found guilty of organizing a system of fake jobs within the European Parliament between 2004 and 2016. Highlighting the “seriousness of the offenses,” the court’s president, Bénédicte de Perthuis, deemed the ineligibility sentence “necessary,” considering the “amount of funds misappropriated,” the “status of the elected officials” involved, and the “harm to public trust and democratic rules.”

The criminal court found that a “centralized, optimized system” had been put in place to allow the National Rally (formerly National Front) to “save money” by paying “fictitious” parliamentary assistants who in fact worked for the party between 2004 and 2016. Referring to a “double deception” – against both the European Parliament and voters – the court president emphasized that the system represented a “circumvention of political party rules and democratic processes.”

Marine Le Pen has, through her lawyer, indicated her intention to appeal the verdict. As a result, the prison sentence handed down in the first instance has been suspended. She will not immediately serve the four-year sentence, two of which are under electronic surveillance.

However, this does not apply to the five-year ineligibility sentence, which was handed down with immediate enforcement – an exceptional provision allowing a judge to enforce an additional penalty even if an appeal is lodged. In concrete terms, Marine Le Pen will likely be unable to run for election during the next five years.

Following this decision, she was automatically removed from her position as departmental councilor in Pas-de-Calais. However, she can remain a Member of Parliament, as this is a national mandate. Still, there is a risk she won’t be able to stand for re-election if new legislative elections are called, such as in the case of a dissolution.

For Marine Le Pen to be eligible to run in the next presidential election in 2027, her appeal must be heard before the first round of that election, and a decision must be rendered by then – either acquitting her, reducing the sentence, or lifting the ineligibility.