ICC suspends chief prosecutor after governing body finds evidence of sexual misconduct

International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan was suspended on Monday after the court’s oversight body referred him for disciplinary proceedings over allegations of sexual misconduct. 

Following an 18-month-long probe into accusations against Khan, the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties ruled on Monday that he should be suspended pending a vote by member states. The decision by the body, along with the detailed documentation used to reach it, will remain confidential until a vote by the full 125-member Assembly of States Parties. 

Under the rules of the ICC, the chief prosecutor can only be removed if a majority of states in the assembly votes to remove him from office in a secret ballot. 

While a diplomatic source familiar with the decision told Reuters that the bureau ruled Khan committed serious misconduct, the bureau's 21-member statement did not provide details of the decision. 

“The assessment of the Bureau was based on the report of an investigation undertaken by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the underlying evidence, the advice of an ad hoc Panel of judicial experts, and written submissions,” the statement said.

“The decision of the bureau and the related documentation will remain confidential,” it added. “The Bureau continues to call for due respect for the privacy and the rights of all parties concerned, as well as for the integrity of the ongoing process.” 

The statement also said that Khan’s suspension “is not an indication of the final outcome.” 

Khan has repeatedly denied the allegations, which first came to light in 2024, although he did temporarily step down from his position pending the results of a United Nations investigation initiated by the ICC. That investigation found evidence that Khan engaged in “non-consensual sexual contact” with a woman working as a special assistant on his staff at the time. 

In a statement, Kahn’s lawyers said that he rejected the decision of the bureau as “unlawful, procedurally unfair, and unsupported by evidence.” 

The bureau’s decision makes Kahn the first ICC prosecutor to be formally suspended from his position by the oversight body. The scandal has caused problems at the court, forcing it to investigate its own chief prosecutor for the first time. 

The initial inquiry into the allegations of sexual misconduct came a few weeks before Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Foreign Minister Yoav Gallant. 

Kahn’s announcement in May 2024 caught many by surprise, as Khan was reported to be planning a fact-finding investigative trip to Israel. However, shortly after the allegations against him were first reported internally, Khan announced his intention to seek the warrants. 

In late 2024, reports already surfaced, claiming that Khan may have initiated the request for arrest warrants as a “smokescreen” to distract from the internal investigation. The issuance of arrest warrants was later approved by the ICC, leading Prime Minister Netanyahu to avoid visiting member states and even to avoid flying over member countries when visiting the U.S. 

Both Israel and the U.S, which are not member states of the Rome Statute, have rejected the validity of the warrants. The U.S. even imposed sanctions on Khan and several ICC justices in response to the arrest warrants. 

A report in the UK outlet The Guardian, in late 2025, alleged that the government of Qatar led a covert intelligence effort to discredit the woman who accused Khan of sexual misconduct. Later, the Wall Street Journal claimed that Qatar promised to “look after” Khan if he issued arrest warrants against the Israeli leaders. 

In May, Haaretz reported that the ICC had issued secret arrest warrants against several Israelis over incidents of violence in the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria. That claim was later denied by the ICC.