http://dx.doi.org/10.59704/77c70ab0dfbbeba1 https://verfassungsblog.de/marine-le-pen-ineligibility-judgment/ Enforcing the Law of Democracy - On the Marine Le Pen Ineligibility Judgment and Its Implications Aynès, Camille Bottini, Eleonora eng 2025-04-07 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Authoritarian Populism Le Pen Marine | 1968– | Rechtsanwältin; Politikerin Marine Le Pen Militant Democracy Rassemblement National elections Le Pen Marine | 1968– | Rechtsanwältin; Politikerin Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 It was a political bombshell. On Monday, 31 March 2025, Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right party Rassemblement National (National Rally) in France, was convicted of misappropriation of public funds in the so-called “parliamentary assistants” case. The judgment is marked by an unusual degree of judicial creativity, particularly in its underlying conception of democracy, which may be understood through the lens of militant democracy. Although it does not constitute a political judgment in the traditional, partisan sense, its constitutional and symbolic significance is substantial—and the backlash it has provoked against the judiciary is a cause for concern.