Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been found guilty on charges of corruption.

He has announced his intention to appeal after being given a three-year prison sentence, with two years suspended.

In a landmark ruling – the first time in post-war France that a former president has appeared in court on trial – Sarkozy and his two co-defendants were all found guilty.

Sarkozy, who was president of France from 2007 to 2012, was convicted alongside his lawyer for trying to bribe judge Gilbert Azibert by offering him a top job in Monaco in return for confidential information.

The information related to an inquiry into allegations that Sarkozy had accepted illegal payments from L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt for his 2007 presidential campaign.
 

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Sarkozy was cleared of wrongdoing in that case but went on trial for corruption over the attempted bribery.

It was found Sarkozy had a secret phone line he only used to contact Azibert and the former leader's lawyer Thierry Herzog. Investigators had "wiretapped" the phone line.

Herzog and Azibert were also found guilty and were given the same sentence.

"These transgressions … undermine public trust and … demand a firm penal response," the judge hearing the case said as he passed sentence.

Despite the effective one-year sentence, it is unclear if Sarkozy will actually go to jail.

A lengthy appeals process is expected and even if that attempt fails he could serve the time with an ankle tag at home instead of behind bars.

Sarkozy due back in court

The 66-year-old former Republican president goes back on trial later this month over claims that executives at a public relations firm created fake invoices to mask overspending on his failed 2012 re-election bid.

In January, prosecutors started looking into alleged influence-peddling by Sarkozy over his advisory activities in Russia.

There is also an ongoing investigation into his 2007 presidential campaign and the allegation it was backed by a nearly $60 million donation from the Gaddafi government in Libya.

The only precedent for the guilty verdict handed down in Paris was the trial of Sarkozy's predecessor Jacques Chirac.

But Chirac was not present in court for his trial due to ill health.

Chirac received a two-year suspended sentence for having arranged bogus jobs for political allies when he was mayor of the French capital.