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Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Report: ICC bureau says prosecutor Karim Khan should be fired for inappropriate sexual relationship
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Diplomats running the International Criminal Court’s oversight body have decided that chief prosecutor Karim Khan had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior staff member and should be fired, two copies of its decision show.
It is the first time details of the decision on accusations of misconduct brought by a female lawyer in 2024 against Khan, a 56-year-old British barrister, have been reported, including the recommendation that he be dismissed.
The decision by the executive bureau of the ICC’s governing body will inform a vote on his fate by the ICC’s 125-member Assembly of States Parties in New York on July 24. It is unclear which way the vote will go.
Khan has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. “The decision is unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence,” his lawyers say in comments sent to Reuters yesterday. They cite a review by judges that finds the evidence is insufficient to prove the allegations “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The 27-page document, shown to Reuters by two independent sources, says Khan committed a serious breach of duty and serious misconduct.
“His behaviour escalated over time resulting in him engaging in non-consensual sexual contact with her in his office, at his private residence and whilst on mission,” the document quotes the UN report as having found.
The bureau recommends “removal from office of the elected official, prosecutor Karim Khan,” the document says.
At least 63 of the 125 member states of the world’s criminal court of last resort are required to pass his dismissal.
Khan’s supporters have suggested that he has become a political target for seeking arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli officials over Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza.
The US has imposed sanctions on 11 ICC judges and prosecutors, including Khan, citing the ICC’s arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and for a past probe into US troops in Afghanistan.
The warrants will remain even if Khan is dismissed because they were confirmed by ICC judges.
The Times of Israel Community.