Member states of the International Criminal Court voted on Friday to remove Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan from office over findings of serious sexual misconduct, ending a nearly two-year saga that has entangled the tribunal’s leadership with its most politically charged investigations.
Diplomatic sources said 82 of the court’s 125 member states backed Khan’s dismissal, marking the first time in the ICC’s history that a chief prosecutor has been removed from the post. The British barrister, 56, was not present for the closed-door session; he is currently barred from entering the United States after being sanctioned by the Trump administration over the court’s investigation into Israeli officials.
Khan was provisionally suspended from his duties in June, after the executive committee of the court’s oversight body, known as the Assembly of States Parties, concluded he had committed serious misconduct. Documents reviewed by the Associated Press indicate the finding centered on a sexual relationship between Khan and a female aide, and on attempts by Khan to discourage her from pursuing a formal complaint. Khan has consistently denied wrongdoing, and his legal team has argued the process used to remove him was procedurally unfair.
The prosecutor’s fall from office has become closely intertwined with the court’s most consequential recent decisions. In 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the conduct of the war in Gaza, a move that prompted fierce criticism from Israel and the United States. Washington subsequently imposed sanctions on Khan and roughly a dozen other ICC officials in response.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, framed Khan’s ouster as vindication, saying in a statement that Khan had used the Gaza case to try to deflect from the misconduct claims against him. Legal analysts have cautioned, however, that the affair carries a political dimension, given the timing of the misconduct allegations relative to the court’s Gaza investigation.
Khan’s removal triggers a process to elect a successor, which officials say is not expected to conclude until next year. In the interim, deputy prosecutors are expected to oversee the office’s work. Officials stressed that all warrants issued under Khan’s tenure, including those against Netanyahu and Gallant, remain legally in force, since only the court’s judges — not the prosecutor — have authority to withdraw them.
