ICC member states vote out chief prosecutor Karim Khan

Where things stand

The International Criminal Court has removed its chief prosecutor. Member states voted on Friday to dismiss Karim Khan following allegations of sexual misconduct, according to reporting by the New York Times, The National and Folha de S.Paulo. The decision resolves, at least on the question of who holds the office, a situation the New York Times describes as having left the court in limbo for years over the allegations against its top prosecutor. What the vote settles is the prosecutor's tenure rather than the underlying allegations themselves, and the available reporting does not indicate what conclusions member states drew about them or how the prosecutor's office will be led going forward. Khan's response to the dismissal is not reflected in today's reporting, nor is the margin or precise mechanics of the vote.

The International Criminal Court is the permanent tribunal that prosecutes individuals for the gravest international crimes, and its chief prosecutor decides which investigations the court opens and pursues. Karim Khan had held that post until member states voted to remove him. Allegations of sexual misconduct against the chief prosecutor had been pending for an extended period, and according to the New York Times they left the court in limbo for years without resolution. Removal of a sitting prosecutor is a decision that rests with the court's member states rather than with the institution's own leadership, which is why Friday's vote was the mechanism that ended his tenure.