French judge Nicolas Guillou at the International Criminal Court headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, on March 8, 2024. INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
The sanctions imposed by Washington in 2025 against 11 judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have become a major social issue. "I realized the issue of these sanctions went beyond the scope of the ICC and had the potential to become a considerable threat to the rule of law worldwide and in Europe," said Judge Nicolas Guillou, in a report published Wednesday, April 23, by the Coalition for the ICC (CICC), an alliance of NGOs from 150 countries.
Subject to US sanctions since August 2025, the French judge argued that these measures "reveal Europe's fragility." Since the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump against the ICC on February 6, 2025, appeals to the European Commission to trigger its blocking statute, a law that would mitigate the effects of US sanctions by prohibiting European companies from complying with them, have continued to multiply. The global financial system has become so dependent on the US, said Zoé Paris, author of the CICC report, "that we find ourselves in situations where a decision by the US executive has repercussions on European banks and businesses."
