ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan Faces Unprecedented Removal Vote

Diplomats from 125 member states of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) convened in New York to decide whether to permanently remove British barrister Karim Khan as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The vote, which will be taken behind closed doors, requires a majority of the ASP to adopt a resolution ousting Khan. He will not attend the meeting because a U.S. sanction—imposed by the Trump administration over the ICC’s Gaza war investigation—bars his entry to the United States. Khan also remains suspended from practicing law in the United Kingdom after the British Bar Standards Board opened its own inquiry.

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Khan has denied the findings. The controversy coincides with the ICC’s 2024 issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza, a move that triggered multiple rounds of U.S. sanctions against Khan and other court officials.

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The Netherlands, the ICC’s host state, announced it will vote for Khan’s removal in a letter to parliament from Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen—the only nation to publicly disclose its position. The ASP’s secret ballot outcome remains undisclosed.

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Internal dissent has surfaced. In April, prosecutors’ staff sent a letter to the ASP warning that Khan’s “leadership has been materially diminished.” A coalition of Palestinian organizations recently accused the executive committee of “unwarranted political interference” and of “subverting the disciplinary process.” Historian Lucy Gaynor of the University of Amsterdam described the situation as “splintering” within the court.

Fate of ICC chief prosecutor heads to unprecedented vote as US sanctions keep him out of New York

• “Political considerations have been folded into this, especially as it is the first time a prosecutor has pursued warrants against a western ally,” — Iva Vukusic, a researcher at Utrecht University

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