THE HAGUE, Netherlands — In a historic first for the International Criminal Court, embattled chief prosecutor Karim Khan has been suspended from official duties, following a vote by the court’s governing oversight body to open formal disciplinary proceedings against the British barrister. The 56-year-old has been entangled in a sexual misconduct scandal stretching back more than two years, stemming from accusations made by a female former member of his staff. Khan has repeatedly and firmly denied all claims of wrongdoing against him.
The final determination of whether Khan will retain his position as the ICC’s top prosecutor now rests with the Assembly of States Parties, the 125-member governing body that oversees the international tribunal. The body will convene a special plenary session to cast a binding vote on Khan’s future. No date for the special session has been finalized, but assembly officials confirmed it will be called as quickly as logistically possible. To remove Khan from office, a majority of 63 member states would need to vote in favor of dismissal, the only outcome the body has the authority to enact.
The Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties, the executive committee that manages the oversight body’s day-to-day operations, announced its suspension decision in an official public statement Monday night. The Bureau noted its action was informed by multiple authoritative sources: an investigative report compiled by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the full body of underlying evidence collected during the probe, legal guidance from an independent ad hoc panel of judicial experts, and formal written submissions from all involved parties. The statement explicitly emphasized that Khan’s temporary suspension ahead of the full assembly vote does not amount to a prejudgment of the final outcome, nor does it confirm the allegations are true.
According to an authenticated copy of the OIOS investigation reviewed by the Associated Press, the U.N. probe uncovered evidence that Khan engaged in repeated nonconsensual sexual contact with the complainant, with incidents alleged to have occurred in his ICC office, his private residence, and during official overseas work trips. An independent Associated Press investigation earlier detailed how Khan first encountered the woman working in a separate ICC department, then arranged to transfer her to a role on his personal staff, after which she became a regular attendee of official international trips with him.
Whistleblower documents cited in the AP inquiry outline specific alleged incidents: on one overseas work trip, Khan is accused of asking the complainant to rest with him on a hotel bed before sexually touching her. Other claims include instances of Khan locking the door of his ICC office and reaching into the complainant’s pocket without consent, as well as repeated unwanted invitations for her to join him on a personal vacation.
However, the independent three-judge panel appointed by the Bureau to conduct a legal review of the OIOS findings concluded that the investigation’s conclusions were not sufficiently conclusive to support immediate disciplinary action. Court documents previously made public have also noted that the panel did not rule out the possibility of Khan resuming his duties if the final assembly vote clears him of wrongdoing.
Khan first voluntarily stepped back from his responsibilities as chief prosecutor in May 2025, after the investigation was launched, and has not performed official duties since. The entire process is unprecedented in the ICC’s history, requiring the Assembly of States Parties to draft and adopt new ad hoc procedural rules multiple times to address the unique situation. When reached for comment by reporters on Monday, Khan’s legal team said a formal public statement would be released on Tuesday.