It was early enough to avoid conflicting with the presidential election but late enough not to interfere with the municipal vote. Marine Le Pen and the far-right Rassemblement National (RN)'s judicial demands proved puzzling and represented notable interference in the administration of justice. On Monday, September 8, the Paris Court of Appeal delivered its decision: The appeal trial concerning the fake European parliamentary assistants of the Front National (FN, now the RN), will take place from January 13 to February 12, 2026.

The 13 defendants, including the far-right party itself, its leader, its most prominent mayor (Louis Aliot in the southwestern town of Perpignan), several MPs (Julien Odoul and Timothée Houssin), and a MEP (Catherine Griset), will appear in court from Monday afternoons to Wednesdays during this period. This is just weeks ahead of the municipal elections, which are scheduled for March 15 and 26, 2026.

As soon as the schedule was announced, the RN framed it as yet another example of judicial interference in its path to power. "Chance does things well for the system," RN lawmaker Laurent Jacobelli said, expressing surprise that "since the beginning, the case has always bounced back between three and six months before an election."

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