ICC Chief Prosecutor Suspended Over Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Karim Khan faces an unprecedented vote by member states after an 18-month investigation found serious misconduct, casting a shadow over the court's high-profile war crimes cases.
The suspension of Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, marks an unprecedented crisis for the institution. On Monday, the executive bureau of the Assembly of States Parties voted by qualified majority to suspend him with immediate effect, having concluded an 18-month investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. The bureau found that Khan committed "serious misconduct" and recommended his removal, referring the matter to a special session of the court's 125 member states, who will decide his fate. The suspension, the bureau stressed, does not prejudge the final outcome.
The allegations, which surfaced in 2024, involve non-consensual sexual interactions with a female lawyer in his office. A third party reported the conduct to the ICC's Independent Oversight Mechanism, triggering the probe. Khan, a British barrister who has led the prosecutor's office since 2021, has repeatedly denied all accusations, with his lawyers denouncing the process as "unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence." He had already taken voluntary leave in May 2025, but the formal suspension now places his career in the hands of the assembly.
Viewed from European capitals, the scandal tarnishes the court's moral authority at a moment when it is pursuing some of its most consequential cases. Khan personally requested arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, and for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders over the Gaza conflict. In Moscow and Jerusalem, where officials have long dismissed the court as a politicised tool, the prosecutor's downfall will likely be met with barely concealed satisfaction. Analysts in London note that the timing is particularly delicate, as the ICC seeks to defend its legitimacy against accusations of double standards.
The special session of the Assembly of States Parties will convene "as soon as possible" to vote on whether to permanently remove Khan. The process is untested: no chief prosecutor has ever been suspended or dismissed in the court's history. The outcome could reverberate through ongoing investigations, potentially delaying or complicating sensitive cases. For now, the court's leadership is in limbo, and the global justice project faces a test of its own accountability mechanisms.
How the same story is told elsewhere.
The suspension of ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan over sexual misconduct allegations deepens the institutional crisis at the court, which is already under pressure from the United States and Israel over its investigations into crimes in the Palestinian territories. The decision comes at a critical moment, potentially undermining the credibility of the court's probes, including arrest warrants against Putin and Netanyahu. Some observers suggest the allegations may be part of a disinformation campaign aimed at weakening the prosecutor.
ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan has been suspended pending a vote by member states, following an investigation into sexual harassment allegations. The decision was taken by the executive bureau of the governing body after an 18-month disciplinary probe. It now falls to the 125 member states to decide in a special session whether to remove him from office.
The embattled ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan has been suspended with immediate effect over sexual misconduct allegations, in an unprecedented disciplinary move. The British barrister, known for high-profile investigations, denies any wrongdoing and awaits a vote by member states on his future. The scandal further tarnishes the image of the international tribunal already under fire for its handling of sensitive cases.
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