The International Criminal Court prosecutor who once led the case against former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has been formally barred from his role, after a governing body of the tribunal moved on Monday to suspend Karim Khan while sexual abuse allegations from a member of his own office remain unresolved.
Khan, the 55-year-old Briton who oversaw the ICC’s pursuit of Duterte before being taken off the matter, had already stepped back from pleading in that high-profile case. The latest decision now removes him from his duties entirely while the claims against him, which he denies, are weighed.
The move came from the 21-seat bureau of the Assembly of State Parties (ASP), which voted to escalate Khan’s case to the full assembly representing every ICC member nation. The bureau acted “by qualified majority… to suspend the Prosecutor from duty with immediate effect pending the final decision of the Assembly of States Parties as the competent decision-maker,” according to a statement from the body. It added a caveat that the step should not be read as a verdict: “The bureau emphasises that this suspension is not an indication of the final outcome.”
In day-to-day terms, the suspension shifts little. Khan had already taken leave from the post in May 2025 to fight the allegations, meaning the court’s operations carry on largely as they have for the past year.
Organisers intend to convene a special session of the ASP as soon as possible to address the question of Khan’s standing.
Beyond the Duterte prosecution, Khan had become a figure of international controversy after obtaining arrest warrants connected to the Gaza war against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant. The United States, a close ally of Israel, reacted with anger and was among the first to impose sanctions on him over those warrants.
