ICC member states remove prosecutor Karim Khan

Member states of the International Criminal Court have voted to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan over sexual misconduct allegations, ending the tenure of a prominent British lawyer whose office pursued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders and faced sanctions from the Trump administration.

The vote at United Nations headquarters in New York passed with 82 votes in favor, the BBC reported. Al Jazeera, citing diplomatic sources and news agencies, reported that a majority of the court’s 125 member states backed Khan’s dismissal.

Khan, 56, was elected in 2021 as the ICC’s third prosecutor. He had been suspended last month and had been on voluntary leave since May 2025 while fighting the allegations. The court’s oversight body found in June that he had committed a “serious breach of duty and serious misconduct” by engaging in an improper sexual relationship with a junior ICC staff member and trying to stop her from pursuing her complaint, according to the BBC.

Khan has repeatedly denied all allegations. His lawyers have called the suspension and the process leading to the vote “unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence.” His team has also argued that the case is politicised and linked to his pursuit of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

The allegations first emerged in May 2024, when a third party reported claims of sexual misconduct involving a female staff member to the ICC. The court’s Independent Oversight Mechanism opened an investigation, but the case was later closed after the alleged victim declined to participate. Critics said that process was mishandled, and investigators ultimately said there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations.

A second referral followed in October 2024. The matter was transferred to the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services, which conducted a broader inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of authority. The BBC reported that the investigation ran from November 2024 to December 2025 and produced more than 5,000 pages of evidence and testimony. A panel of three judges then reviewed the findings and advised on whether Khan’s conduct amounted to serious misconduct, less serious misconduct or no misconduct.

Al Jazeera reported that Khan was accused of sexually harassing a junior colleague who worked as his assistant. The accuser, identified only as Sarah, recently told CNN that Khan’s conduct escalated to touching and groping, including an incident in which she said he touched her intimately while she pretended to be asleep.

The vote comes as the ICC faces mounting political pressure. Khan oversaw warrants for top Israeli officials over the war in Gaza and investigations involving United States personnel in Afghanistan. The Trump administration imposed sanctions on Khan and a dozen other ICC staff in retaliation and has recently said it would seek to dismantle the court “brick by brick,” using visa bans, asset freezes and diplomatic pressure on allies to withdraw from the ICC or reject its jurisdiction over their nationals.

Khan could not attend the New York vote because he is barred from entering the United States under sanctions imposed over the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes by Israeli officials in Gaza, the BBC reported. He also remains suspended from practising law in the United Kingdom while the Bar Standards Board conducts its own inquiry.

Former European Union chief diplomat Josep Borrell wrote that the case against Khan is “obviously part of a larger offensive against the ICC,” Al Jazeera reported.

Khan’s dismissal immediately starts the process of choosing a new ICC prosecutor, though Al Jazeera reported that a vote is not expected before next year. His removal does not immediately affect the 2024 arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, which can be withdrawn only by ICC judges.