François Fillon has been suspended from the Legion of Honour for 10 years. The sanction against the former Prime Minister was imposed by a presidential decree dated August 19, 2026, and published this Thursday, August 20, in the Official Journal . It comes after the former head of government's conviction in the case of the fictitious jobs held by his wife, Penelope Fillon, became final.
Ten-year suspension for the former Prime Minister
François Fillon will not permanently lose his decoration, but he will be deprived for ten years of all the rights and prerogatives attached to his rank of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor. The presidential decree is explicit: “Mr. François Fillon, born on March 4, 1954, in Le Mans (Sarthe), is suspended for a period of ten years (…) from the exercise of the rights and prerogatives attached to his rank of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor.” The measure therefore constitutes a suspension and not a definitive exclusion from the order. For the entire duration of this suspension, François Fillon will no longer be able to exercise the rights attached to his rank of Grand Officer.
A sanction following his final conviction
This decision comes after the legal conclusion of the fictitious jobs case that has dogged François Fillon since the 2017 presidential campaign. On June 17, 2025, the Paris Court of Appeal, called upon to rule again on his sentence, sentenced the former Prime Minister to four years' imprisonment, suspended, a fine of €375,000, and a five-year ban from holding public office. François Fillon had appealed this decision to the Court of Cassation. He ultimately withdrew his appeal, making his sentence final. His guilt had already been definitively confirmed by the Court of Cassation. The new trial in 2025 concerned the sentence to be imposed on him.
The affair that derailed his 2017 presidential campaign
The case broke in early 2017, just after François Fillon had won the center-right primary and was among the frontrunners for the presidential election. The courts focused in particular on the salaries paid to Penelope Fillon for her work as a parliamentary assistant to her husband and his substitute, Marc Joulaud. The judges determined that the evidence presented did not substantiate the claims that the work performed corresponded to the sums paid. The case also concerned Penelope Fillon's employment at the literary magazine La Revue des Deux Mondes . François and Penelope Fillon were found guilty in this case after legal proceedings that lasted several years. The scandal profoundly disrupted François Fillon's presidential campaign. Despite being formally charged, the former Prime Minister maintained his candidacy and finished third in the first round of the 2017 election, behind Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.
From Matignon to the rank of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour
François Fillon served as Prime Minister under Nicolas Sarkozy throughout his entire five-year term, from 2007 to 2012. He had previously held several ministerial positions and served in various parliamentary mandates. A Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour, the former Prime Minister formally retains this title, but the decision published this Thursday now prevents him from exercising its rights and prerogatives for ten years. The sanction is in effect according to the presidential decree signed on August 19, 2026. Ten years after the scandal that precipitated the failure of his presidential bid, François Fillon is thus directly sanctioned with regard to France's highest honor.
