Karim Khan, who in 2024 issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, will be unable to attend unprecedented vote in NY due to sanctions imposed by the Trump administration The post 125 countries to vote Friday on permanent removal of ICC chief accused of sexual misconduct appeared first on The Times of Israel. THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Diplomats from around the world are gathering at United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday to decide whether to permanently remove the embattled chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.British barrister Karim Khan has been accused of sexual misconduct with a female aide, as outlined by The Associated Press in a series of stories, allegations which he has steadfastly denied.The saga has dragged on for more than two years and has had profound implications for the global tribunal, which is already under enormous pressure. Earlier this month, the United States, which has long criticized the court, announced a campaign aimed at dismantling the 24-year-old institution.The 56-year-old Khan was formally removed from his duties at the ICC in June after the executive committee of the court’s oversight body found he had committed “serious breach of duty and serious misconduct” by engaging in a “sexual relationship ...
(that) escalated over time” and tried to prevent the woman from pursuing her allegations, according to documents seen by The Associated Press. Khan disputes those findings.Khan faces an unprecedented removal voteNow his future lies in the hands of the 125 nations who make up the court's oversight body, the Assembly of States Parties, who are holding a special session in New York. It will culminate in a vote where a majority would need to support a resolution to oust him.Khan will not be present at the closed-door meeting, as he is barred from entering the United States after being sanctioned by the Trump administration over the court’s investigation into Israeli officials for the military's conduct in the conflict in Gaza.His lawyers have complained about his absence at the meeting.
“We know of no court or tribunal in any proper and fair legal system that bars a person facing the gravest professional sanction from being heard,” Tayab Ali and Sareta Ashraph wrote in a letter to the ASP seen by the AP.He goes into the vote banned from practicing law in his home country of the United Kingdom after being suspended by the British Bar Standards Board pending their own investigation into the allegations against him.The outcome of the vote, which is secret, is unclear. The court’s host state of the Netherlands will vote for his removal, the country’s foreign minister Tom Berendsen wrote in a letter to parliament… Khan faces historic removal vote as critics warn ICC process has been politicised Member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) are set to gather at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday for a controversial vote which could see the court's chief prosecutor Karim Khan dismissed from his job over alleged misconduct claims.
It will be the first time in the ICC's 24-year history that member states have been asked to decide whether to remove a sitting chief prosecutor from office. The Assembly of States Parties (ASP), the court’s governing body that is made up of its 125 members, will vote by secret ballot requiring an absolute majority of 63 states to remove the prosecutor. Khan’s lawyers said they have been denied accreditation to attend Friday’s session and to mount a defence prior to the vote.
They added that the president of the ASP “has closed every formal channel” through which they can address the assembly, and has asked all state parties not to meet with the legal team. "The right under the rules to address you on the substantive decision of misconduct has been flatly denied to us," Khan’s lawyers, Tayab Ali and Sareta Ashraph, wrote in a statement on Tuesday.
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