Enforcing the Law of Democracy - On the Marine Le Pen Ineligibility Judgment and Its Implications

Enforcing the Law of Democracy - On the Marine Le Pen Ineligibility Judgment and Its Implications Aynès, Camille Author aut Bottini, Eleonora Author aut Text xx# 2025 Verfassungsblog 2025-04-07 eng 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. CC BY-SA 4.0 Aynès, Camille Authoritarian Populism Le Pen Marine | 1968– | Rechtsanwältin; Politikerin Marine Le Pen Militant Democracy Rassemblement National elections Le Pen Marine | 1968– | Rechtsanwältin; Politikerin 342 https://verfassungsblog.de/marine-le-pen-ineligibility-judgment/ Verfassungsblog 2366-7044 Max Steinbeis Verfassungsblog gGmbH 10.59704/77c70ab0dfbbeba1 250407 10.59704/77c70ab0dfbbeba1 Converted from MARCXML to MODS version 3.7 using MARC21slim2MODS3-7.xsl (Revision 1.140 20200717)