Jacques Chirac corruption trial date set

Jacques Chirac will go back on trial in September on corruption charges (REUTERS)

Former French President Jacques Chirac will go back on trial in September on corruption charges linked to his time as mayor of Paris.

A Paris court announced today that the trial will be held between September 5 and 23. It will be the first involving a former French head of state since the Second World War.

Chirac, who is 78, will be joined by nine other defendants. The trial involves two cases of fake jobs allegedly created to fund Chirac's conservative party while he was mayor from 1977-1995.

Chirac, president from 1995-2007, has denied wrongdoing. If convicted, he would face up to 10 years in prison.

France's top court ruled against a last-ditch appeal that forced the trial to be suspended right after it first opened in March.