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Khan Ousted by Vote
The International Criminal Court voted on Friday to dismiss Karim Khan as chief prosecutor over sexual misconduct allegations, with the Assembly of States Parties removing him in an unprecedented move.
BBC reported that the decision to remove Khan was passed with 82 votes in favour, after the court’s oversight body found in June that he had committed a "serious breach of duty and serious misconduct" involving an improper sexual relationship with a junior ICC staff member.
The BBC added that Khan’s lawyer said he would challenge "the lawfulness and fairness of the decision through all available legal mechanisms," and it said it was not immediately clear what legal avenues remained open.
DW said the Assembly of States Parties president Paivi Kaukoranta stated that the ICC found Khan had committed "serious misconduct and serious breach of duty," and it reported that 82 of the court’s 125 member states voted in favour of removal.
The Al Jazeera report said the vote came as the ICC faced backlash from the United States and Israel after Khan issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his then-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in 2024.
Due Process Dispute
Khan’s legal team and critics framed the vote as procedurally unfair, with Al Jazeera quoting Tayab Ali saying the removal was "by an executive vote while under sanctions and while the Court is under immense political pressure".
In a separate account, the BBC said the ICC statement after the vote "took note" of the decision of the Special Session of the Assembly of States Parties, and it added that the court said it would continue to attach the utmost importance to maintaining a safe, inclusive, and respectful working environment.
DW reported that Khan’s lawyer Tayab Ali said "Mr. Khan will challenge the lawfulness and fairness of the decision, though all available legal mechanisms," and it also said Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon criticized Khan, saying he thought the arrest warrants would "distract from serious sexual misconduct allegations."
The Al Jazeera piece also said the ICC said after Khan’s dismissal that the prosecutor’s office "remains committed to conducting independent and impartial investigations and prosecutions across all situations under the Court’s jurisdiction".
The BBC described the wider process as reshaping the world’s only permanent war-crimes tribunal, noting that the misconduct investigation ran alongside a campaign to weaken and dismantle the ICC.
Warrants and Wider Fallout
Even after Khan’s removal, multiple outlets said the 2024 arrest warrants would remain in place, with the BBC stating that the controversy would not end there and that the decision would have no immediate impact on the arrest warrants issued in 2024 for Netanyahu and Gallant for crimes against humanity.
“The Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has voted to remove prosecutor Karim Khan over sexual misconduct allegations, his legal team has confirmed, suggesting that the move was “political””
DW said all active ICC warrants will remain in place despite Khan’s dismissal because only ICC judges have the authority to withdraw warrants, and it tied the dismissal to the period when Khan sought arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant over Gaza war crime charges.
The Guardian reported that the warrants issued by judges were unaffected by his removal, while it said the prosecution division with about 400 staff had been left bruised by a protracted scandal and convoluted process.
The Guardian also quoted Clean Clothes Campaign spokesperson Ineke Zeldenrust?—it did not; instead it quoted Danya Chaikel saying the vote was a testament to the complainant’s "extraordinary courage in coming forward, despite everything she risked in doing so."
Al Jazeera said the Palestinian mission to the Hague decried attacks on the courts, and it quoted the mission describing attempts to link the vote to the Situation in the State of Palestine investigation as "highly cynical."
