Diplomats serving on the oversight body of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have concluded that Prosecutor Karim Khan engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior staff member and have recommended that he be removed from office, according to a Reuters report.
According to the report, the decision marks the first time details of the oversight body's findings regarding misconduct allegations brought by a female lawyer against Khan in 2024 have been made public. The recommendation will be considered by the ICC's 125-member Assembly of States Parties during a vote scheduled for July 24 in New York.
Khan has denied the allegations. His lawyers said the decision was unlawful, procedurally unfair, and unsupported by the evidence. They also pointed to a review by three judges that found the evidence did not establish the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.
The executive bureau of the ICC's governing body rejected that advisory opinion, relying instead on the findings of a yearlong UN investigation commissioned by the court.
According to the decision reviewed by Reuters, the evidence established beyond a reasonable doubt that Khan entered into a sexual relationship with the staff member beginning in March 2023. The bureau determined that the power imbalance made such a relationship inappropriate and concluded that Khan committed a serious breach of duty and serious misconduct.
The document also cited the UN investigation's finding that Khan's conduct escalated over time and included non-consensual sexual contact in his office, private residence, and during official travel. The bureau therefore recommended his removal from office.
A majority of at least 63 member states is required to approve Khan's dismissal.
Khan, who has served as ICC prosecutor for five years, has been suspended by the court and by Britain's independent regulator for court lawyers, which is expected to consider his status in the coming weeks.
An ICC spokesperson declined to comment, and the bureau did not respond to a request for comment.
The report said the case has intensified an ongoing crisis at the ICC, which is also facing US sanctions over investigations involving the United States and Israel. Supporters of Khan have argued that he became a political target after seeking arrest warrants in 2024 against Israeli officials over Israel's conduct during the war in Gaza.
The US has imposed sanctions on 11 ICC judges and prosecutors, including Khan, citing the court's arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, as well as an earlier investigation into US troops in Afghanistan.
The report noted that any dismissal of Khan would not affect the existing arrest warrants, which were approved by ICC judges. His deputies have overseen the prosecutor's office since he took voluntary leave in May.