PARIS — France’s constitutional court ruled Friday that it is constitutional to remove an elected official from office as punishment for a crime before the individual has exhausted the appeals process.
While the case concerns a little-known former local representative from the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, legal scholars have followed it closely, with some arguing the decision could impact the embezzlement trial of far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
The constitutional court instead chose to limit the scope of its analysis to local officials and not weigh in on broader legal implications which would have affected Le Pen’s incredibly sensitive court case.
Prosecutors in Le Pen’s case had asked a three-judge panel to ban her from running for office for five years and immediately execute that part of the sentence, as opposed to waiting until all appeals have been concluded. If the court follows the recommendations, Le Pen could be barred from running in the presidential election scheduled for 2027.
The judges should deliver a verdict in Le Pen’s case Monday.
Le Pen, along with 24 co-defendants and her party, the National Rally, were accused of embezzling funds from the European Parliament by hiring parliamentary assistants to work on party business instead of EU affairs. All have professed their innocence.
The prosecution took the extraordinary step of asking that Le Pen’s ban on running for office be immediately executed, even if she were to appeal.
Typically in France, punishments are not levied until all appeals have been exhausted, as the presumption of innocence continues to apply. The process can take years.
This story is being updated.
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