The U.K.’s Bar Standards Board, a body regulating specialized legal services in England and Wales, has suspended International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan from serving as a barrister in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse.
A barrister in the U.K. is a specialized lawyer who primarily represents clients in the higher courts of law.
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 on the backdrop of Khan’s suspension on June 9 from the ICC pending disciplinary proceedings after a U.N.-linked investigation found evidence of alleged misconduct involving a former aide.
At Khan’s behest, the ICC in November 2024 issued arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes committed in the Gaza war following the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
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.
Khan has repeatedly denied the allegations against him.
