The verdict in the corruption trial of Marine Le Pen, a prominent figure in France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party, will be announced tomorrow. If found guilty, Le Pen will be ineligible to run for president in the 2027 elections. The Paris Criminal Court will announce its verdict tomorrow in the corruption trial of Le Pen, who was Macron’s main rival in the previous elections and has announced her candidacy for the 2027 elections. The decision from tomorrow’s trial, which started last year and involves Le Pen and 26 others facing charges of corruption, could potentially hinder the far-right leader’s bid for the presidency. Prosecutors in Le Pen’s case are not waiting for the court’s appellate proceedings and are instead seeking an immediate 5-year ban on participating in elections. Some French legal experts believe that the recent decision by the Constitutional Court to enforce penalties without exhausting the appeals process, which was used for a local politician accused of misusing EU funds, could apply to Le Pen, whose case could take years to see a final ruling if appealed. If judges decide to execute the penalty without waiting for the appeals process based on the Constitutional Court’s ruling, Le Pen will be unable to compete in the 2027 presidential elections. However, some legal experts argue that the ruling by the Constitutional Court may be limited to local officials and not applicable to Le Pen’s case. The Constitutional Court had deemed the decision to dismiss former local elected official Rachadi Saindou from the French territory of Mayotte, who was accused of misusing public funds in 2024, as legal without waiting for the completion of the appeals process. The Paris Criminal Court will announce its decision regarding Le Pen on March 31st. WHAT HAPPENED? When Le Pen was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), it was alleged that she paid two individuals using EP funds for fictitious consulting services. Some MEPs from the former National Front party, including Marine Le Pen, were investigated in 2015 for allegedly creating fictitious employment at the EP between 2004 and 2016. The Paris prosecution requested legal proceedings against some MEPs of the party, including Le Pen and her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, for allegedly misusing EU funds and “concealing the offense.” In 2018, the party underwent a name change to become the National Rally (RN), and a trial began in September 2024 at the Paris Criminal Court involving Le Pen, her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, as well as Louis Aliot and Bruno Gollnisch, among 27 party members accused of misusing EU funds.