When Lady Justice Lifts Her Blindfold, Briefly - France’s Appeal Court, Marine Le Pen, and the Line Between Law and Politics

When Lady Justice Lifts Her Blindfold, Briefly - France’s Appeal Court, Marine Le Pen, and the Line Between Law and Politics Schmitt-Leonardy, Charlotte Author aut Text xx# 2026 Verfassungsblog 2026-07-16 eng Justice, one could say, did not take off her blindfold on July 7th – but she did lift it, just a fraction, long enough to check in with political reality. Paris’s court of appeal upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction for misappropriating public funds, yet softened the 2025 ban on her running for office just enough to keep a presidential bid in 2027 on the table. The guilty verdict stands – it is the sentence that now intrudes less directly into the democratic arena. CC BY-SA 4.0 Schmitt-Leonardy, Charlotte France Le Pen Le Pen Marine | 1968– | Rechtsanwältin; Politikerin Marine Le Pen Presidential Elections Rule of Law elections separation of powers Le Pen Marine | 1968– | Rechtsanwältin; Politikerin 342 https://verfassungsblog.de/le-pen-ban/ Verfassungsblog 2366-7044 Max Steinbeis Verfassungsblog gGmbH 10.59704/24fde90d3ef67481 260716 10.59704/24fde90d3ef67481 Converted from MARCXML to MODS version 3.7 using MARC21slim2MODS3-7.xsl (Revision 1.140 20200717)