UK legal regulator suspends ICC prosecutor Karim Khan
The Bar Standards Board acted after misconduct allegations against Karim Khan, who denies wrongdoing and faces separate action at the ICC.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
Britain’s legal regulator for barristers has suspended International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan with immediate effect. The decision adds pressure on Khan as the ICC weighs his future after findings of serious misconduct by an internal investigation, according to Al Jazeera.
The Bar Standards Board said Friday that an interim suspension panel must review the decision at a hearing within four weeks. Khan, 56, has denied allegations that he sexually misconducted himself with a female aide, Al Jazeera reported.
The regulator’s move came about a week after the ICC’s executive committee suspended Khan. According to Al Jazeera, the committee acted on June 8 after an investigation concluded that Khan had committed “serious misconduct” and a “serious breach of duty.”
Khan’s lawyers have rejected the ICC action and said they will challenge it, Al Jazeera reported. Khan had already stepped aside temporarily in May 2025 while a separate external inquiry by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services was pending.
Allegation and earlier inquiry
The misconduct allegation was first reported more than two years ago, according to Al Jazeera. Two colleagues initially took the matter to the ICC’s watchdog, but that inquiry was closed after the woman involved declined to file a formal complaint, saying she feared retaliation, Al Jazeera reported.
In April, UN investigators found that Khan had “nonconsensual contact” with the aide in his office, at his private home and during a mission, The Associated Press reported, citing the inquiry. A three-judge panel chosen by the ICC’s oversight body, the Assembly of States Parties, later rejected the report’s legal assessment, according to Al Jazeera.
The judges wrote that the UN investigators did not say which witnesses they found credible and did not resolve inconsistencies in the accounts, Al Jazeera reported. That assessment has become part of a wider institutional dispute over how the case against Khan has been handled.
ICC role and political backdrop
Khan has led prominent ICC prosecutions tied to conflicts in Sudan, Russia and the Middle East, according to Al Jazeera. The allegation against him surfaced while he was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s war in Gaza.
The United States, which does not recognize the ICC, responded by sanctioning 11 ICC staff members, including Khan, Al Jazeera reported. The measures included revoking US visas and blocking bank accounts, according to that report.
The ICC has scheduled a July 24 vote on whether to remove Khan from office, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing diplomats and documents. Al Jazeera said it could not immediately verify that report.
The BSB suspension does not itself remove Khan from the ICC post. It places a separate professional restriction on him in Britain while the panel process proceeds and while the ICC continues its own disciplinary and governance steps.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.