The UK’s Bar Standards Board, the barristers’ regulator in England and Wales, has suspended International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse made against him.
The Guardian reported that the suspension took effect on Friday, and is subject to a review by a panel within four weeks.
Consequently, Khan is temporarily barred from practicing in the jurisdiction where he qualified as a lawyer and established his legal career before assuming the ICC role.
The Bar Standards Board acted against the backdrop of Khan’s suspension on June 9 from the ICC pending disciplinary proceedings after a UN-linked investigation heard evidence of alleged sexual assault involving a former colleague. Khan denies all allegations.
Khan gained international prominence in 2024 when he petitioned the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and then-defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes committed in the Gaza War, which the court subsequently did.
Reacting to Khan's ICC suspension, Netanyahu took to social media to accuse the court of being corrupt and said the war crimes allegations against Israel were fabricated to deflect attention from the accusations against Khan.
“Want to divert attention from sex crime accusations? Just make up war crime accusations against Israel! Classic. The ICC is corrupt to the core,” the premier wrote on X.
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