French Constitutional Council ruling deals blow to Le Pen

By Juliette Jabkhiro

PARIS (Reuters) -France's Constitutional Council ruled on Friday that local politicians can be barred from office immediately if convicted of a crime, leaving the door open for far-right leader Marine Le Pen to potentially be barred from the 2027 presidential race.

The council issued its ruling in a case that did not involve Le Pen, but its decision means she will face the prospect of being unable to run for president in 2027 if she is convicted in an embezzlement trial concluding on Monday.

Prosecutors in the embezzlement trial have asked for the National Rally (RN) leader to be barred from public office for five years. A so-called "provisional execution" ban would be effective immediately even if she appealed.

Le Pen, who leads opinion polls for the 2027 election, has denied wrongdoing and accuses prosecutors of seeking her "political death".

Robin Binsard, a lawyer who represents a disbarred politician, said the Constitutional Council's ruling on Friday was negative for Le Pen as "the judges retain the possibility of ordering ineligibility with provisional execution".

In Friday's case, the council dismissed a challenge by a disbarred councilman from the Mayotte archipelago who disputed the legality of a provisional execution ban imposed on him.

In its ruling, the council said the provisional execution of an ineligibility sentence did not infringe on freedom of expression rights, and was therefore legal.

Anticor, a French anti-corruption association, said such bans were "one of the most effective means of removing elected officials who have seriously undermined democracy from public life."

"This welcome decision comes amid growing distrust among certain political leaders toward the judicial authority, which could undermine the rule of law," it said.

In Le Pen's case, prosecutors have asked judges to impose an immediate five-year ban regardless of any appeal, via the same provisional execution measure.

Any provisional execution ban would not force Le Pen's removal from her seat in parliament until her mandate ends, but it would prevent her from running in any new electoral contest.

Le Pen, the RN and some two dozen party figures are accused of diverting over 3 million euros ($3.27 million) of European Parliament funds to pay staff working for the party in France.

The defendants say the money was used legitimately and that the allegations incorporate too narrow a definition of what a parliamentary assistant does.

(Aditional reporting by Gabriel Stargardter, Editing by Alison Williams and Timothy Heritage)