Since the penalty includes a year of imprisonment, a debate is underway with the court in Paris over how Sarkozy will spend a year in prison.

Sarkozy is the first president in the history of France to enter the dock in court, while the trial of the former president, Jacques Chirac, was conducted in a different way, so he did not attend the courtroom.

Sarkozy was prosecuted on charges of trying to bribe a judge, through his lawyer, who lured him into an administrative position in exchange for information on a case in which he is following the former president before the courts.