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Disqualification of convicted representatives in France

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Disqualification (French: inéligibilité) is when a French court punishes someone by prohibiting them from running for election.

Outside punishments, there are other reasons why the French electoral code may disqualify people from running. A prefect cannot run in their own riding.

History

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Naturalized citizens

Naturalized citizens were disqualified multiple times in the legal history of France. A law from 1849 to 1867 [fr] prohibited naturalized citizens from running unless individually authorized. The 1889 nationality law [fr] imposed a 10-year waiting period,[1] reaffirmed by the 1927 law [fr] and the 1945 nationality law. In 1952, the waiting period for municipal representatives became 5 years, and likewise for parliamentary representatives in 1975. The waiting period was removed for municipal representatives in 1978 and for everyone in 1983.[2]

Punishment

The punishment of disqualification became French law in 1992.[3] Until 2010, Act L. 7 of the French electoral code automatically removed candidates from the electoral list when convicted of felonies and certain misdemeananors, leading to de facto disqualification for five years.

In 2010, following a constitutional challenge [fr] (QPC), the Constitutional Council struck down part of the act that violated the individualized sentencing [fr] protected by article 8 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.[4][3] It said the loss of passive suffrage must be manually imposed by a judge, for a maximum of five years for a misdemeanor and ten years for a felony.[5][6]

François Hollande won the 2012 French presidential election on a platform of extending disqualification to 10 years.[7] The French chapter of Transparency International supported this.[8] The government bill for political transparency even suggests permanent disqualification "for violations of public morality, like corruption, influence peddling, electoral fraud or tax evasion".[9][10] This did not make it into the final Law for political transparency [fr].[11][12]

In 2017, the Law for trust in democracy [fr] created equitable relief in the form of disqualification for felonies or a lack of integrity.[11][13] The requirement of a clean criminal record was considered but dismissed as potentially unconstitutional.[14] The Constitutional Council rejected the appeals of some who showed remorse for or denied certain felonies, but also rejected complaints of violation of individualized sentencing now that the disqualification is not automatic.[15]

In 2024, disqualification was frequently in the news, during the National Front assistants scandal, when the prosecutor sought to disqualify Marine Le Pen for 5 years.[16] The request for provisional execution [fr] (immediate enforcement without waiting for appeal[17]) shocked politics, media, and academia, with her supporters decrying a "political trial" and a "judicial dictatorship",[18][19] but others pointed to judicial independence[20] and the seriousness of the crime.[21] Found guilty on 31 March 2025, Marine Le Pen was sentenced to five years' disqualification, a fine, and prison time with provisional execution, preventing her from running for president in 2027.[22]

A Mahoran official disqualified with provisional execution raised a QPC saying the provisional execution unconstitutionally violated the right to stand for election as the sentence is not final. The Council of State agreed to forward the QPC to Constitutional Council on 27 December 2024.[23] It was heard on 3 January 2025,[24] but deals not with provisional execution itself but with the constitutionality of L. 230 and L. 236 of the French electoral code that the prefect used to remove the Mahoran from office.[24]

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List of convicted representatives in France

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To ensure that elected officials lead by example and with integrity, violations regularly result in disqualification[25][26] (171 in 2016, 9125 in 2022).[27] For example:

More information Name, Date ...
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Law

Disqualification is a type of prohibition of political activity.[61]

Disqualification is equitable relief [fr] with a maximum of 10 years for an elected official lacking integrity, engaging in active corruption, or influence peddling.[62]

The equitable relief is a mandatory sentence for felons and certain misdemeanants:

The court may however write a special judicial opinion taking mitigating factors and character evidence into account and not impose the penalty.[63]

For electoral fraud, the disqualification is not more than three years.[64][5]

See also

References

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