ICC assembly dismisses prosecutor Karim Khan over sexual misconduct allegations
In a landmark decision, member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have voted to dismiss Prosecutor Karim Khan following disciplinary proceedings stemming from widely reported sexual misconduct allegations.
The decision was finalized during an emergency session at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, following a closed-door vote among the 125-member Assembly of States Parties. Mr. Khan had originally been elected in 2021 to serve a nine-year term as the court’s chief prosecutor.
“The Assembly has decided by a majority of 82 States Parties that prosecutor Karim Khan committed serious conduct and a serious breach of duty, and to remove him from office,” the Assembly president announced, urging respect for the dignity and privacy of all individuals involved.
The ICC Assembly is expected to begin the process of electing a new prosecutor shortly.
Timeline of the investigation
The removal concludes a multi-step investigative process that unfolded over nearly two years:
2024: Initial sexual misconduct allegations emerge against Mr. Khan.
November 2024: The ICC requests an external investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).
May 2025: Mr. Khan takes a leave of absence pending the OIOS investigation, while ICC deputy prosecutors step in to lead the Office of the Prosecutor.
March 2026: The Assembly receives formal conclusions from a panel of judicial experts.
June 2026: The ICC Bureau of the Assembly evaluates the OIOS report, underlying evidence, expert panel advice, and written submissions.
June 8, 2026: The Bureau refers the disciplinary proceedings to the Assembly by a qualified majority, suspends the prosecutor with immediate effect, and calls for a special session.
High-profile cases and geopolitical tensions
The dismissal hits the global court amid a period of intense international scrutiny. The ICC, which maintains a cooperation agreement with the UN, has issued several high-profile arrest warrants in recent years, including Russian President Vladimir Putin (2023) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2024)
The court relies heavily on state support—particularly from its 125 member nations—to enforce its mandates, as it lacks its own police force for arrests. Major powers like Israel and the United States remain outside the Rome Statute, having signed but not ratified the treaty.
In 2025, Washington escalated tensions by imposing sanctions on nine ICC personnel—including judges, the prosecutor, and deputy prosecutors—following court investigations into alleged war crimes involving Israel and the United States.
Established in 2002 by the landmark Rome Statute, the ICC is the world’s first permanent, treaty-based international criminal court designed to investigate and prosecute individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression.
Operating primarily as a court of last resort, the ICC does not replace national legal systems; states retain the primary responsibility to investigate and punish perpetrators of mass atrocities. To date, the court has secured seven convictions and maintains a current active docket of 34 cases.
Whois Karim A. A. Khan KC?
On 12 February 2021, Mr Karim A. A. Khan KC was elected as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the nineteenth session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute in New York. Mr Khan was sworn in on 16 June 2021.
Karim was an Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and served as the first Special Adviser and Head of the United Nations Investigative Team to promote accountability for crimes committed by Da’esh/ISIL in Iraq (UNITAD) between 2018 to 2021. UNITAD was established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2379 (2017), to promote accountability efforts for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Da’esh/ISIL.
Karim is a barrister and King’s Counsel with more than 30 years of professional experience as an international criminal law and human rights lawyer. He has extensive experience as a prosecutor, victim’s counsel and defence lawyer in domestic and international criminal tribunals, including, but not limited to, the International Criminal Court, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He has also represented victims of human rights violations in Africa and Asia. Karim is a Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn and was appointed a Recorder of the Crown Court in 2018. He was elected as the second President of the ICC Bar Association in July 2017 and is a worldwide Ambassador of the African Bar Association. He has published a number of leading texts on international criminal law and is the co-author of ‘Archbold International Criminal Courts’, now in US 5th edition.
The holder of a Bachelor of Laws degree with Honours from King’s College, University of London, in addition to various other degrees and qualifications.
