French court rejects Le Pen challenge to parliamentary election rules

PARIS (Reuters) -France's highest administrative court rejected a challenge to electoral rules by far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Wednesday, dealing a blow to her efforts to overturn a sentence that could derail her candidacy in the 2027 presidential election.

Le Pen was barred in March from seeking public office for five years after the Paris Criminal Court convicted her and other members of her party for misappropriation of funds. She has said the case and the decision were politically motivated.

A final ruling in the case is expected in January, but Le Pen had launched a separate appeal to the Council of State, France's highest administrative court, challenging electoral rules that could prevent her from standing again for parliament.

If France's political crisis results in a snap parliamentary election, Le Pen intends to run for re-election in the Pas-de-Calais department.

The Council of State said it was rejecting Le Pen's appeal because "it did not seek to repeal regulatory provisions but rather to amend the law". The articles she had contested were either nonexistent or unrelated, it said.

Le Pen's lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut told Reuters that the Council of State's decision would not bar his client from running for parliament ahead of January's final ruling.

"It does not in any way prejudge her ability to stand as a candidate in future parliamentary elections," he said.

The Paris Criminal Court's ruling in March handed Le Pen a four-year prison sentence, including two to be served, a 100,000-euro ($116,230.00) fine and a five-year ban on holding public office that was immediately enforceable despite pending appeals.

The ruling has cast doubt on her ability to run in the 2027 presidential election, where she remains a leading contender.

Le Pen had argued that the immediate application of the law that bars people convicted of certain crimes -- including those related to corruption, fraud, or misuse of public funds -- unfairly infringed upon her political rights. 

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(Reporting by Alban Kacher; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Aidan Lewis)