The role of courts in shaping democracy is becoming a massive issue between the US and Europe, with leaders from both sides struggling over how much power judges have over elected politicians.
The Wall Street Journal predicts in an analysis that this divide is likely to grow even deeper, following the move by a French court to find Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzlement on Monday. The controversial ruling bars her from politics for five years, making it basically impossible for her to be able to run in the 2027 presidential elections. She was expected to be the front-runner.
Le Pen is expected to appeal the decision.
This ruling has fueled deep concerns from members of the Trump administration and right-wing nationalists in Europe, who claim that courts are being used to silence political opposition. Trump went so far as to say that Le Pen’s situation reminded him very much of what he went through, dealing with biased courts at home. Right wingers argue that liberal elites in ivory towers are undermining democracy by using the judiciary as a political weapon, similar to how President Trump has said he was targeted before winning his second term last year.
“When the radical left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents,” tech mogul and Trump ally Elon Musk wrote on X in response to the decision. “This is their standard playbook throughout the world.”
The US State Department, also concerned about the weaponized judiciaries, Tammy Bruce stated that barring people from running in elections raises serious questions about democratic fairness. She compared the situation to what she called the “aggressive and corrupt lawfare waged against President Trump.”
Wall Street Journal also says this case is feeding into a larger debate between the U.S. and Europe over democracy, the rule of law, and political legitimacy, which is a conversation that has flared up several times in recent months. Camille Lons, an analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations, explained that in the US, where Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump have repeatedly criticized “democracy by judges,” this verdict will likely be used as evidence of judicial overreach in Europe.
“American conservatives will likely seize on Le Pen’s conviction to argue that centrist elites in Europe are using legal mechanisms to suppress right-wing opposition,” Lons said.
Le Pen’s ban from politics follows a controversial decision in Romania, where courts overturned the first round of a presidential election after ruling that the winner, right-wing nationalist Călin Georgescu, had been influenced by Russian-backed TikTok campaigns. Georgescu was then barred from running in the re-election in May. He has denied any ties to Russia and called the ruling a political attack.
Vice President JD Vance has been one of the loudest voices criticizing European governments for what he says are undemocratic practices. He has condemned moves that he says silence political opponents, including Germany’s refusal to cooperate legislatively with the far-right AfD, which is now the country’s second-largest party.
“Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There is no room for firewalls,” Vance said in a speech in Munich in February. That speech caused a firestorm among European leaders who in turn criticized Vance for taking issue with their governance.
Mainstream European leaders have defended the ruling, arguing that the rule of law must be upheld in all cases, including Le Pen’s. A poll by think tank Destin Commun in January found that 59 percent of French respondents believed that prosecuting Le Pen and potentially banning her from politics was necessary to protect democracy, reports WSJ.
However, some European nationalists see the ruling as politically motivated. Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said, “People who are afraid of the judgment of the voters are often reassured by the judgment of the courts.”
The situation in France mirrors recent political turmoil in Romania, where right-wing nationalist Călin Georgescu was blocked from taking office after winning the first round of a presidential election, having also beeen detained. Citing Russian influence on his campaign, Romania’s Constitutional Court voided the results, barred Georgescu from running again, and later detained him. Now, as the country heads toward a new election in May, another right-wing candidate, George Simion, is leading in the polls.
Georgescu has said that he is facing “Trump-levels” of judicial tyranny.
Simion, who leads the Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR), has positioned himself as a nationalist, calling for the restoration of Romania’s pre-World War II borders, which would include parts of Moldova, Ukraine, and Bulgaria. His party, once known for opposing Covid restrictions, has since grown into a major opposition force, drawing support from working-class voters and the Romanian diaspora. The first round of voting is set for May 4, with Simion polling at 35 percent.
This Story originally came from humanevents.com