The US has long sought to incapacitate the ICC, to prevent accountability for US and Israeli leaders. The Trump administration imposed sanctions on 9 of the 18 ICC judges, ICC prosecutors, a UN Special Rapporteur, and 3 leading Palestinian human rights groups, and has now sanctioned the entire ICC. Faculty explained the history of threats to the independence of the court, and analyzed lawsuits and other strategies to challenge the sanctions.
The international treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC).
125 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. See them listed here.
A challenge to the executive order and subsequent sanctions targeting International Criminal Court (ICC) personnel and others. Timeline and case files available on Center for Constitutional Rights and Justice (CCRJ) website.
A challenge to federal sanctions that the plaintiffs argued prevented them and others from submitting information and communicating with the International Criminal Court (ICC). Timeline and case files available on Court Listener.
“This measure targets an independent judicial institution, created by treaty and entrusted by 125 States Parties with investigating and prosecuting genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. …”
US Executive Order Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court
Press releases by the US State Department regarding sanctions against the ICC and supposed justifications for the sanctions.
As Trump Sabotages the ICC With Sanctions, There Are Many Ways to Fight Back by Marjorie Cohn.
IADL statement in opposition to the removal of ICC prosecutor Karim Khan
Re: Lack of Due Process and Politicisation in Khan Disciplinary Corroding
the Independence of the ICC 21 July 2026
“The African Bar Association (AfBA) has strongly condemned what it described as a politically motivated and coordinated campaign targeting International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor, Karim A. A. Khan KC.”
“The almost total secrecy, combined with selective leaks, has worked to reaffirm the critique that the process was not just overly complex and lengthy, but also Kafkaesque, opaque, and unfair. …” — Sergey Vasiliev, professor of international law at Open University in the Netherlands
Commentary by William A. Schabas, Professor of international law at Middlesex University London and Professor emeritus at Leiden University and the University of Galway
Commentary by Kevin Jon Heller, Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for Military Studies, former Special Adviser to the ICC Prosecutor on War Crimes from 2021-2026
Commentary by Kevin Jon Heller, Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for Military Studies, former Special Adviser to the ICC Prosecutor on War Crimes from 2021-2026
Reflection by Sergey Vasiliev and Ezequiel Jimenez Martinez on removal of ICC prosecutor
“ICC decision to abandon its own procedures paper would deny its 125 member states an opportunity to determine whether prosecutor committed misconduct”
“The executive body of the ICC ignored advice that its proceedings lacked the judicial safeguards needed to protect the court’s integrity, document shows”
Commentary by Dr Cyril Laucci, Lead Counsel for the Defence before the ICC
Commentary by Dr Cyril Laucci, Lead Counsel for the Defence before the ICC
“The Judicial Panel’s conclusion on Mr Khan’s case should not be discarded because some parties find it inconvenient.”
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