ICC Member States Vote to Remove Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan in Historic First

Member states of the International Criminal Court voted on Friday to dismiss chief prosecutor Karim Khan over findings of serious misconduct, the first removal of a sitting prosecutor in the court’s 24-year history. Khan, who denies all wrongdoing, said through his lawyer that he will challenge the decision.

How did the vote unfold?

The Assembly of States Parties held an emergency special session at United Nations headquarters in New York. The 125 member states cast secret ballots behind closed doors.

Assembly president Päivi Kaukoranta announced that 82 states voted for removal, comfortably above the 63 needed for an absolute majority. Thirteen voted against and 15 abstained.

The assembly concluded that Khan had committed serious misconduct and a serious breach of duty through prohibited conduct directed at a subordinate staff member. Kaukoranta asked that the dignity and privacy of everyone involved be respected.

Khan’s attorney, Tayab Ali, said the decision rested on no lawful or properly reasoned finding of misconduct and confirmed his client would contest it.

What were the allegations?

Khan, a 56-year-old British barrister, was accused of sexual misconduct involving a female aide. The allegations were first reported in 2024 and detailed in a series of investigations by the Associated Press.

In November 2024 the court requested an external inquiry by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services. Khan stepped aside in May 2025 as that investigation entered its final stage, and the court’s oversight body suspended him in June this year pending the assembly vote.

Khan cooperated with the UN investigation, according to its report. In an earlier interview he rejected any suggestion of harassment, abuse of authority or inappropriate behaviour. The vote came days after his accuser spoke publicly for the first time in a television interview.

What does this mean for the court’s caseload?

Khan was elected to a nine-year term in February 2021 and was only the third person to hold the post since the court’s founding in 2002.

His office pursued some of the court’s most consequential files. Under his tenure the prosecution sought arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin, former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, Myanmar’s junta leaders, Taliban officials and Israeli leaders.

Deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang had already taken over the Duterte case in late 2025 after Khan was removed from it over a potential conflict of interest.

How are governments responding?

The removal lands during a period of intense pressure on the institution. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week that the United States was launching a broad campaign against what it describes as a threat to American sovereignty.

Rubio said Washington would press member states to withdraw, sanction organisations working with the court and bar its staff from travelling to the United States. Countries sheltering under the US security umbrella would be asked to reject the court’s jurisdiction over American citizens. In 2025 the United States sanctioned nine ICC personnel, including judges and prosecutors, over investigations touching Israel and the US.

Venezuela announced its withdrawal from the court within hours of the vote. Foreign minister Félix Plasencia said the court’s work reflected a demonstrated geographical bias concentrated on African and Latin American countries at the expense of the Global South.

Norway’s deputy foreign minister Andreas Kravik, whose country backed removal, had argued before the session that the prosecutor was unfit to continue serving.

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