Judges argue sanctions aimed to punish and coerce ICC choices on US and Israeli struggle crimes circumstances.
Printed On 25 Jun 2026
Three Worldwide Felony Court docket judges are suing United States President Donald Trump and his administration over sanctions imposed on them last year, arguing the measures have been illegal.
Within the lawsuit filed within the federal court docket in Manhattan on Wednesday, judges Kimberly Prost of Canada, Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda and Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Benin stated the sanctions have been designed to exert extrajudicial strain with the target of punishing and coercing the judges.
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The Trump administration imposed sanctions on a number of judges on the ICC final 12 months in an unprecedented retaliation over the tribunal’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a previous determination to open a case into alleged struggle crimes by US troops in Afghanistan.
Because of the sanctions, the judges noticed their US-based property and property blocked. US-based entities have been additionally forbidden from partaking in transactions with them, together with by the “provision of funds, items or providers”.
The ICC, which was established in 2002, has worldwide jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes towards humanity, and struggle crimes in member states or if a scenario is referred by the UN Safety Council.
Though the ICC has jurisdiction over struggle crimes, crimes towards humanity and genocide in its 125 member nations, some nations, together with the US, China, Russia, and Israel, don’t recognise its authority.
Throughout Trump’s first time period, his administration imposed sanctions on the ICC’s prime prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one in all her aides over the court docket’s work on Afghanistan.
The lawsuit argues that the sanctions have been towards the regulation as they exceeded the scope of the Worldwide Emergency Financial Powers Act and weren’t based mostly on a real nationwide emergency or extraordinary menace.
“The Sanctions Regime … is designed to exert extra-judicial strain on these judges and their colleagues on the ICC bench by focusing on their monetary and different private pursuits, with the target of punishing them for prior judicial choices and coercing them into prioritizing their non-public pursuits over deciding circumstances on the premise of the regulation and details,” the lawsuit stated.
“Being subjected to such sanctions below IEEPA is tantamount to the monetary loss of life penalty. Because of the sanctions, Judges Prost, Bossa, and Alapini-Gansou are not ready, amongst different issues, to make use of bank cards; entry banking providers; use frequent on-line platforms, comparable to Amazon and Google; ebook journey; and in some circumstances, receive medical insurance,” it stated.
The judges additionally stated that the sanctions bar the submission of proof and argument in any pending or future continuing earlier than them.
