The bureau of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court decided on Monday to suspend Prosecutor Karim Khan, disregarding a judicial panel’s opinion that found no evidence of misconduct against him.
According to an official press release published late on Monday, a qualified majority of the 21-member bureau, the executive governing body of the court, decided to suspend the prosecutor “with immediate effect” pending the final decision of the ASP as the competent decision-maker on the matter.
The decision was made under rule 28 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, which indicates that a two-thirds majority of bureau members present and voting recommended a finding of “serious misconduct”, paving the way for a vote at the larger ASP which first needs to uphold the decision, then vote on whether to remove the prosecutor.
The statement by the bureau emphasised that the suspension is not the final outcome in the disciplinary proceedings, and that it has decided to convene a special session of the ASP as soon as possible to consider the matter.
“The assessment of the Bureau was based on the report of an investigation undertaken by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the underlying evidence, the advice of an ad hoc Panel of judicial experts, and written submissions,” it said.
