ICC removes prosecutor Khan over sexual misconduct allegations

The International Criminal Court's 125 member states voted by secret ballot on Friday to remove Karim Khan, the tribunal's chief prosecutor, after sexual misconduct allegations pushed the court into a governance crisis. The tally was 82 in favor, 13 against and 15 abstentions, a result that placed the court’s oversight machinery, not just Khan’s future, under intense scrutiny.

The ICC, based in The Hague, prosecutes genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression under the Rome Statute system. Khan, a British barrister nominated by the United Kingdom, had already been suspended pending a decision on the allegations, and a United Nations watchdog was set to examine the complaint. The Assembly of States Parties, the court’s oversight body, held a special session on 24 July 2026 on disciplinary proceedings involving an elected official, and any permanent successor must be chosen through that body while the Office of the Prosecutor continues under its deputy leadership.

The allegations were linked to a female aide, and Khan denied them. Even before the removal, the dispute had become a test of the court’s legitimacy because it involved the person who decides which governments and commanders the ICC pursues. Khan had already drawn global attention for some of the tribunal’s most politically fraught cases, including arrest warrants issued in May 2024 for Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and Mohammed Deif, as well as the 2023 warrant for Vladimir Putin that led Russia to place Khan on its wanted list.

The removal now leaves the court trying to protect its authority while it continues cases tied to Palestine, Ukraine and alleged crimes in Darfur, Sudan. The issue is not only who leads the prosecutor’s office next, but whether states under investigation will use the scandal to challenge the court’s independence, resist cooperation or slow responses to arrest requests and evidence demands.