In the Netherlands, ICC Member States Remove Prosecutor Karim Khan in Misconduct Decision
The Assembly of States Parties removed International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan during a special session in The Hague, Netherlands, on July 24, 2026. Human Rights Watch reported that the stated grounds were serious misconduct and a serious breach of duty.
The decision removes one prosecutor from office and opens a leadership transition at the ICC, the international court responsible for investigating and prosecuting alleged international crimes within its mandate. The court’s work continues, but the change places its next succession process at the center of attention.
What changed at the court
The Assembly of States Parties is the ICC’s governing body. During the July 24 special session, it decided to remove Khan as prosecutor. The approved sources do not provide the exact vote tally or identify which governments or political groups supported the decision.
The grounds reported by Human Rights Watch are serious misconduct and a serious breach of duty. Those descriptions state the basis given for the institutional decision; they do not, by themselves, establish a criminal conviction or a court judgment against Khan. The available packet does not provide a separate judicial finding.
The prosecutor leads the ICC Office of the Prosecutor, which handles investigations and prosecutions before the court. That role gives the removal significance beyond a personnel change: it affects the leadership of the office responsible for advancing cases involving alleged international crimes.
Why the succession matters
Reuters reported on July 27 that the ICC is searching for a new prosecutor after Khan’s removal. The news agency described the search as difficult because the court is operating amid political pressure and U.S. sanctions targeting the institution.
Reuters also reported that the next election will test the court’s procedures and independence. The selection will therefore be watched not only for who is chosen, but also for how the Assembly manages the transition and demonstrates confidence in the office’s future work.
The timing adds to the institutional stakes. Human Rights Watch described the leadership change as significant for a court that serves as a court of last resort for international crimes. Amnesty International, in a July 14 statement, documented broader pressure on the ICC, including threats involving sanctions, visa restrictions and diplomatic pressure.
Those pressures form the wider environment in which the court must replace its prosecutor. They do not, however, establish how the removal will affect any particular investigation or prosecution. The approved sources do not say that the decision invalidates ICC warrants or cases, and they do not establish a specific operational change in an ongoing proceeding.
What happens next
The immediate next step is the search for a successor to Khan. Reuters identified that process as consequential for the court, while the available sources do not identify a successor or give a final timetable for the next prosecutor’s election.
Until those details are established, the confirmed development is the change in leadership of the Office of the Prosecutor. The court continues its investigations and prosecutions while the Assembly’s succession process proceeds.
For governments, victims and observers of international justice, the transition will be a test of the ICC’s institutional accountability and its ability to maintain credible procedures under pressure. The July 24 decision has settled who no longer leads the prosecutorial office. It has not yet settled who will take over, when that election will occur or what effect the transition will have on individual cases.
Sources
- International Criminal Court Prosecutor Removed, Human Rights Watch
- International Criminal Court faces challenging search for new prosecutor, Reuters
- Global: States must push back against reprehensible US campaign to dismantle the ICC, Amnesty International
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