politics
Britain’s Bar Standards Board Suspends ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan
The 56-year-old prosecutor was suspended effective immediately on 19 June 2026, one week after the ICC executive committee took the same step.
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Britain’s Bar Standards Board suspended International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan effective immediately on 19 June 2026. The board issued its statement the same day and said an Interim Suspension Panel must consider the interim suspension at a hearing within the next four weeks. Khan, 56, faces allegations of sexual misconduct with a female aide.
The accusation was first reported more than two years ago. Two coworkers initially brought the allegations to the ICC’s watchdog, but an initial investigation was closed after the woman involved declined to make a formal complaint, citing fear of retaliation. Khan has denied any wrongdoing.
His lawyers rejected the ICC’s 8 June 2026 suspension decision and pledged to challenge it. ” Khan had already temporarily stepped down from his ICC position since May 2025 pending a separate external inquiry by the United Nations’ Office of Internal Oversight Service.
In April 2026, UN investigators found that Khan had “nonconsensual contact” with his aide in “his office, at his private residence” and while on a mission.
The ICC has scheduled a vote on whether to remove Khan from office for 24 July 2026. The accusation of sexual misconduct against Khan came as he sought arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s actions in Gaza. In response, the United States, which does not recognise the ICC, sanctioned 11 ICC staff members, including Khan, revoking their US visas and blocking their bank accounts.
A photograph shows ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, on 16 January 2025.
