Overview

• The Cour de cassation on May 28 refused to overturn Falco’s appeal, leaving intact his five-year ban from public office.
• Falco was originally convicted for using Conseil départemental du Var funds on personal expenses such as meals and laundry services after stepping down as council president.
• His sentence includes an 18-month suspended prison term, a €30,000 fine and immediate ineligibility that removed him from his Toulon and métropole mandates in 2023.
• Falco’s lawyer contended that the Aix-en-Provence court failed to apply the Conseil constitutionnel’s proportionality test for provisional ineligibility.
• The outcome could shape Marine Le Pen’s own challenge to a similar provisional ban ahead of her 2026 appeal.