Case of the National Front MEPs' assistants: the prosecutor's office abandons its appeal to the Court of Cassation

The public prosecutor's office at the Paris Court of Appeal announced on Wednesday, July 15, that it would not appeal to the Court of Cassation in the case concerning parliamentary assistants of the National Front, now the National Rally. This decision comes after reviewing the ruling issued on July 7 and puts an end to the possibility of the public prosecutor's appeal to the highest court.

On appeal, the judges upheld the conviction of Marine Le Pen and several former party officials for misappropriation of public funds, but handed down less severe sentences than those requested by the public prosecutor's office. The prosecutors had notably sought a five-year ban from holding public office for the Pas-de-Calais MP, whereas the appeals court had limited this sentence to fifteen months' imprisonment, which she had already served.

Marine Le Pen maintains her appeal

The public prosecutor's office considered that the ruling did not contain any error of law justifying an appeal to the Court of Cassation. The Court of Cassation is not intended to retry the facts, but only to verify the correct application of the law by the lower courts.

Marine Le Pen, for her part, confirmed that she would appeal to the Court of Cassation. She is contesting, in particular, the charge of misappropriation of public funds upheld by the judges. This appeal suspends the execution of her one-year sentence of house arrest with an electronic tag. The Court of Cassation indicated that it should render its decision no later than the beginning of April 2027, a few weeks before the first round of the presidential election, for which the leader of the National Rally has already announced her candidacy.