ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan Removed After Sexual Misconduct Finding
Members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have voted to remove Karim Khan as chief prosecutor following allegations of sexual misconduct. The decision was made at a meeting in New York, with 82 votes in favour of dismissal.
Mr Khan, who became the ICC's third prosecutor in 2021, was suspended last month after an investigation found he had committed a 'serious breach of duty and serious misconduct' by engaging in an improper sexual relationship with a junior staff member and attempting to obstruct her complaint. The findings were issued by the court's Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM) in June 2025.
Mr Khan has consistently denied all allegations. His legal team described his suspension as 'unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence'. He has been on voluntary leave since May 2025 to fight the claims, and remains suspended from practising law in the UK while the Bar Standards Board conducts its own inquiry.
The controversy surrounding Mr Khan has placed the ICC under intense scrutiny. The process has exposed internal divisions and comes at a time when the court faces external pressures, including sanctions from the United States over its investigation into alleged war crimes by Israeli officials in Gaza. Mr Khan was unable to attend the vote as he is barred from entering the US under those sanctions.
The allegations first emerged in May 2024, when a third party reported misconduct to the ICC. The IOM opened an investigation but closed it after the alleged victim declined to participate. Critics said the investigation was mishandled. A second referral in October 2024 led to a broader inquiry by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), which ran from November 2024 to December 2025 and produced over 5,000 pages of evidence. A panel of three judges then reviewed the findings and determined that Mr Khan's conduct constituted serious misconduct.
Regardless of the outcome, the controversy is unlikely to end. Mr Khan's removal may reshape the world's only permanent war-crimes tribunal. Supporters of the ICC fear the institution will emerge weakened at a time when it needs to address grave global threats.
