Request for the waiver of the immunity of Marine Le Pen

The European Parliament decided to waive the immunity of Marine Le Pen (ENF, FR).

The French judicial authorities requested that the immunity of Marine Le Pen, Member of the European Parliament and Chair of the Front National (FN) party, should be waived in connection with proceedings relating to the posting on her Twitter account of violent images.

It is the established legal practice of the European Parliament that immunity may be waived where opinions expressed and/or images that are the subject of legal action have no clear or direct connection with the performance of parliamentary duties by the Member of the European Parliament and do not constitute opinions expressed or votes cast in the performance of those duties.

Given that there is no reason to suspect that this may be a case of “fumus persecutionis”, i.e. a situation in which there are signs or evidence of an intent to damage a Member’s political activity, Parliament considered that the Parliamentary immunity of Marine Le Pen should be waived.