The British bar regulator has suspended ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan from practice, another blow to an international institution that wants jurisdiction over American citizens but can't police its own house.
The Bar Standards Board, which regulates lawyers in England and Wales, suspended Khan on Friday pending disciplinary proceedings. The move follows last week's finding by the ICC's own oversight body that Khan engaged in "serious misconduct" and a "serious breach of duty" over an inappropriate relationship with a female staff member. A vote on whether to permanently remove him from office is set for July 24, according to Newsmax.
Khan "unequivocally denies all allegations of impropriety," his lawyers said in a statement, and pledged to "take all necessary steps to challenge the decision."
The misconduct allegations have dragged on for more than two years. An AP investigation in 2024 revealed whistleblower documents showing Khan allegedly spotted the woman in another ICC department and moved her into his office. A United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services report in April found evidence of "nonconsensual sexual contact" with the aide "in his office, at his private residence" and while on mission, the AP reported. A three-judge panel, however, said the investigation wasn't conclusive enough — an internal review process that let Khan off the hook until the ICC's governing body stepped in.
Newsmax reported that a confidential 18-month inquiry found a "factual basis" for the aide's allegations of a non-consensual sexual relationship.
Here's where the story splits along predictable lines. An anonymous diplomatic official told the AP that some countries believe the allegations are designed to stop the court's investigation into Israel. "This is what happens when you go after friends of the U.S.," the official said. Khan's supporters have similarly suggested he's a political target, according to Newsmax. The AP and SFGATE both included that framing. What none of the outlets dwell on is the more basic problem: the head of a court that claims universal moral authority to prosecute nations is accused of exploiting a subordinate in his office and at his private residence, and the institution's own judges couldn't conclusively act on it.
Khan is also sanctioned by the Trump administration — along with 11 other ICC judges and prosecutors — for issuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and for a past probe into U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Washington has threatened more sanctions. The United States is not an ICC member, and never should be.
The ICC opened in 2002 as the world's first permanent war crimes court. Its prosecutor is now suspended from two bars — the British one and his own institution's. The 125-member Assembly of States Parties holds Khan's fate next month. The question for Americans isn't whether Khan stays or goes. It's why any institution this compromised, this unaccountable to any electorate, should ever claim authority over ours.
