ICC prosecutor Karim Khan remains suspended amid misconduct probe

Karim Khan remained suspended from practice after the Bar Standards Board upheld an interim ban on the International Criminal Court prosecutor. The panel’s July 13 order followed a July 10 hearing and kept the suspension in place until the BSB or a Disciplinary Tribunal finishes the case.

Khan was suspended with immediate effect on June 19 by a vice chair of the BSB’s Independent Decision-Making Body. Interim suspensions are reserved for cases the BSB considers very serious and urgent, and they can last up to four weeks before panel review. The decision bars Khan from practising as a barrister in England and Wales while the allegations are examined.

The ICC’s governing Bureau had already suspended Khan on June 8 pending disciplinary proceedings. A separate Bureau decision found he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior staff member and recommended that he be removed from office, setting up a special session of the Assembly of States Parties in New York on July 24, where at least 63 of the court’s 125 member states would have to vote for dismissal.

The allegations reached the court in 2024, and Khan had been on voluntary leave since May 2025 while the disciplinary and legal processes continued. The suspension relies on an independent United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services report, testimony from Khan and the alleged victim, and advice from judicial experts. Khan has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and his lawyers have called the process unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence.

The case has turned politically charged because Khan’s supporters say he is being targeted for seeking arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant over Gaza.