Key facts
- ICC member states voted to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan.
- The removal was based on misconduct claims, with 82 of 125 members voting in favor.
- This is the first dismissal of a sitting prosecutor in the ICC's 24-year history.
- Khan denies all allegations of wrongdoing.
- The UK government informed Khan it would not support his continuation in the role.
- Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar welcomed the decision and called for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders to be dropped.
International Criminal Court member states voted to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan over misconduct claims, marking the first such dismissal in the court's 24-year history. Eighty-two of the 125 member states supported the removal in a secret ballot held at the UN headquarters in New York.
Khan, who denies all allegations, was informed by the UK government on June 17 that it would not support his continuation in the role. This decision came after the UK reviewed summaries of a UN investigation and a judges' report that had initially cleared Khan of misconduct. Despite the judges' conclusions, a group of member states pushed for a re-investigation, arguing that Khan "engaged in a sexual relationship" with the complainant, which they deemed inappropriate given the power imbalance. Khan has denied any sexual relationship occurred, and the complainant's account focused on allegations of non-consensual conduct.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar welcomed Khan's removal, calling it "long-delayed" and urging the court to drop arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. The UN's special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, suggested Khan's dismissal aligned with efforts to neutralize these warrants.
The disciplinary process against Khan has been described as politicized by Palestinian rights groups, former judges, and Khan's lawyers. The investigation into Khan has unfolded against a backdrop of alleged intimidation campaigns targeting the prosecutor and the ICC, particularly following his office's efforts to prosecute Israeli leaders for alleged war crimes in Gaza. Khan had sought arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant in May 2024, which were subsequently issued.