A Paris court upholds Marine Le Pen's embezzlement conviction - but clears the path for her to run in the 2027 French presidential election
Court of Appeal judges sentence Le Pen to three years of imprisonment, with two suspended and one with an electronic tag
After the trial in 2025, the hard-right leader was given a four-year sentence, with two years suspended and the remaining two to be served with a tag
She was also originally handed a five-year ban from running for public office, which has been reduced today to 15 months
This means Le Pen can technically run for the French presidency next year - but in her own words she has said she will not run under these conditions, writes our digital Europe editor
Image source, ReutersMarine Le Pen, the figurehead of the hard-right party National Rally, has arrived at the Court of Appeal in Paris.
She will shortly hear the verdict of her appeal, after she was found guilty of embezzlement last year.
We will bring you the key lines from the verdict hearing after it begins at 13:30 local time (12:30 BST).
Image source, AFP via Getty Images
Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesLe Pen (left) pictured next to Jordan Bardella (right)
Ahead of the decision from the appeal court, National Rally President Jordan Bardella says "nothing can justify Marine Le Pen being excluded from the choice of the French people and prevented from presenting herself before them".
Writing on X, Bardella describes it as an "important day, an extraordinary one".
"At a time when millions of French people place their hopes and trust in her, depriving her of the possibility of seeking their votes would constitute a grave assault on the free choice of the French people," he says.
Reflecting on the pair's long history, Bardella adds his support for Le Pen is "total", and that his "loyalty will never depend on circumstances".
"I do not forget the battles that we promised each other to fight together," he says.
Katya Adler
BBC Europe editor reporting from Paris
Amélina is a 21-year-old law student in Paris
I'm at the Palais de Justice courthouse in Paris, speaking to members of the public hoping to witness today's verdict.
Amélina, a 21-year-old law student, told me she's queuing here hoping to see justice done.
She says it's a historic moment because Marine Le Pen is so well known and stands for so much for so many - both positive and negative.
Amélina says she's not a fan of Le Pen or her party. She adds she's here to show that in France justice is blind and if you break the law there are consequences.
Alexandre Mahoudeaux is first in the public queue at the Palais de Justice
Meanwhile, Alexandre Mahoudeaux, a 19-year-old political science student, tells me he is a passionate supporter of Le Pen and that she has inspired him to get interested in politics.
According to him, her gift is that she listens to people and pays attention to the issues troubling them.
He tells me that in France the justice system is politicised and he believes Le Pen is being treated more harshly than others from more traditional political parties facing similar charges.
Laura Gozzi
Europe reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesA long line of journalists waited outside the courthouse from dawn onwards
As often happens during high-profile cases, dozens of journalists were queuing outside the Palais de Justice courthouse in Paris since the early hours of this morning.
They have all been waiting for a chance to get into the courtroom, where places are limited to 75 people.
Members of the public queued separately - a number of them will also be able to witness the verdict and sentencing.
The verdict isn't due to be announced for another half hour or so, followed by a long sentencing. It will be a long day for anyone witnessing the proceedings.
Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor
Twenty-four people were found guilty in March 2025, including members of the European Parliament and party officials, and 12 appealed against their convictions.
They include Louis Aliot, National Rally vice-president and mayor of Perpignan, who was handed a six months' jail sentence, to be served at home with an electronic tag.
Nicolas Bay, former secretary general of the party when it was known as the National Front (NF), was also given a six-month term with a tag.
Another NF figure, Bruno Gollnisch, was given a year with an electronic tag, while Catherine Griset, a former close aide of Marine Le Pen, was barred from public office for two years.
Wallerand de Saint-Just, a former NF treasurer, was given a one-year term under an electronic tag.
Joe Coughlan
Live reporter
Image source, ReutersLe Pen pictured leaving the courthouse on the day of the verdict of her trial
Marine Le Pen was found guilty in March 2025 of embezzling €1.4m (£1.2m) in European Parliament (EP) funds to pay her own party employees from 2004-16 instead of parliamentary assistants.
Le Pen was a member of the EP (MEP) from 2004-17. The prosecution case argued that the officials who were hired rarely set foot in the European parliament and lacked an active role there.
This included Le Pen’s long-time personal assistant Catherine Griset who, despite being accredited in Brussels as a parliamentary aide, was recorded as attending the assembly building for only 12 hours between August 2014 and October 2015.
Le Pen was given a four-year jail term, of which two suspended and two to be served at home with an electronic tag.
The verdict on 31 March 2025 barred her from standing in an election for five years, with immediate effect.
Katya Adler
BBC Europe editor
Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesLe Pen was twice defeated by Emmanuel Macron in the presidential race, but Macron will not be running in 2027
If you look on French news channels and on social media today, this verdict is dubbed 'la décision' - meaning 'The Decision'. Capital T. Capital D.
It’s seen as hugely important - it's about Marine Le Pen and her political career.
This would be the fourth time that she runs for president. She has never ever been this close to winning.
Le Pen's head and shoulders ahead of other political contenders, according to public opinion polls.
The European Union and Nato are also watching really closely.
France is the second largest economy in the EU. It's also a big military power by European terms.
And whether she runs for the presidency, or if she's unable to after today's verdict and hands it to her protege Jordan Bardella, Le Pen's party is a Eurosceptic party.
It's a party that's tepid about giving military support to Ukraine. Will they want to invest the kind of money in defence that France has promised to Nato if they win the presidency?
Don't forget, the president in France has a lot of power. It's not a symbolic figure at all. So it really matters.
Image source, ReutersMarine Le Pen is a lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017 and 2022.
She is the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France's hard-right National Front (FN).
She took over the party in 2011 - and in 2015 expelled her father over a series of inflammatory remarks, in part to do with his view that the Holocaust was a "detail of history".
In 2018, the party was rebranded as National Rally (RN).
A political player in France for years, Le Pen's message - anti-immigration and anti-European Union - has been consistent and unchanged.
Image source, Raymond PIAT/Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesFor years Marine Le Pen (right) saw her father (left) as the man she wanted to live up to (file pic 1987)
In the lead up to the 2017 election she softened her tone, for example by saying she did not regard Islam as “incompatible” with French democracy. Her party also tried to build bridges with the Jewish community.
Le Pen stepped down as leader of RN in 2022 and was replaced by Jordan Bardella - although Le Pen continues to represent the 11th constituency of Pas-de-Calais in France's National Assembly.
She still hopes to run for the presidency again in France's upcoming 2027 election, but that aim depends on today's appeal verdict following her conviction for embezzlement in March last year.
Tara Mewawalla
Live reporter
Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesMarine Le Pen has steered her National Rally to electoral success and now her fate is in the hands of the Paris appeal court
Shortly we'll be hearing a verdict from the Court of Appeal of Paris that has huge implications for French politics.
It's set to make a decision on whether to uphold Marine Le Pen's embezzlement conviction. The verdict will decide whether or not she can run for the French presidency in April next year.
Le Pen, who is a figurehead of France's hard-right National Rally party, was found guilty of embezzling European Union funds in March 2025.
She was given a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended and two to be served with an electronic tag. Le Pen was also barred from running for office for five years.
Unless she can get her sentence overturned, Le Pen will likely not be able to stand again in the presidential election. Her appeal trial concluded in February this year.
If her sentence is reduced, for example to a two-year ineligibility rather than a five-year one, she would be able to finish serving her sentence before the presidential elections.
Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesNational Rally President Jordan Bardella has been part of Le Pen's team since his early twenties
But if the court bars her from running, it could bring down the curtain on her long political career as leader of France's nationalist right, before she hands the baton to her protege Jordan Bardella.
We'll be bringing you all the latest updates from court, analysis and reaction from across the political spectrum.