During an emergency meeting on Friday, the ICC's supervisory body, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), will decide whether to remove Khan. Last month, the ICC announced that Khan would be suspended from his job pending the supervisory body's decision.
The allegations against the 56-year-old Khan, who has been the court's chief prosecutor since 2021, became known in 2024. According to confidential documents obtained by CNN in the US, a younger female colleague, who works as a lawyer at the ICC, testified that she was subjected to repeated sexual advances, including groping and attempted kissing.
Did not consent
In an interview with CNN , the woman says that Khan's behavior escalated from the time she started working for him in 2023. For fear of losing her job and thus her work visa, she did not dare to say no.
"It can't be consent when you have such a power differential. What I think a lot of people don't understand is that Khan wasn't just my boss, he was everyone's boss," she says in the CNN interview.
Khan, who denies all charges, voluntarily stepped aside in May 2025 and took “administrative leave.” His lawyers have argued that the charges against him are politically motivated and may be part of a plot by foreign actors to discredit him.
In November 2024, the ICC issued an international arrest warrant against, among others, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for suspected war crimes in Gaza.
Since then, the US government has imposed sanctions on Karim Khan and several other judges at the court in The Hague. The sanctions mean that the individuals are banned from entering the US and any assets in the country are frozen.
Damages trust
Last week, the United States, which is not affiliated with the ICC, accused the court of posing an “unacceptable threat to US sovereignty” and threatened new sanctions.
The emergency meeting with the oversight body ASP will take place at UN headquarters in New York. The decision to remove Khan requires a majority, meaning at least 63 of the 125 member states must vote in favor for it to pass.
ICC staff have warned that confidence in the institution could be damaged if Khan returns.
Since the allegations became known, Khan, who is a trained lawyer in his home country of the United Kingdom, has also lost the right to practice as a lawyer following a decision by the British regulatory body the Bar Standards Board .
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a court based in The Hague, Netherlands. It adjudicates cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
The ICC began operations in 2002 and is a complement to the International Court of Justice in The Hague (ICJ). The ICJ adjudicates in inter-state disputes and the ICC tries individuals who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity or been complicit in genocide.
The court is activated when an internationally appointed prosecutor has a suspect extradited from a country where the crime was committed.
