Diplomats from the ICC’s 125 member states meet in New York on Friday for a secret vote on whether to permanently remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan, in an unprecedented test for the court.
June findings by the court’s oversight body said Khan committed serious misconduct through a sexual relationship with an aide and tried to stop her pursuing allegations; Khan denies the accusations and disputes the findings.
US sanctions over the ICC’s Gaza investigation bar Khan from entering the United States, keeping him out of the session; his lawyers say he is being denied a fair chance to be heard.
The Netherlands has publicly said it will vote to remove him, while the outcome remains unclear and Khan is already suspended from practicing law in the UK pending a separate probe.
The case has deepened divisions inside a court already under pressure from backlash to 2024 arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, leaving deputies running Khan’s office and the ICC facing a bruised future.