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Member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) are set to vote Friday on whether to remove the court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, following sexual misconduct allegations against him.
The vote will take place during a special session of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), the ICC's governing body, at United Nations (U.N.) headquarters in New York.
The court's 125 member states will decide by secret ballot, with an absolute majority of at least 63 votes required to remove Khan from office.
The vote marks the first time in the court's 24-year history that member states have been asked to decide on removing a sitting chief prosecutor.
Khan, a 56-year-old British barrister who has served as ICC prosecutor since 2021, has categorically denied the allegations.
He stepped back from his duties in May 2025 after an inquiry was launched into allegations that he sexually harassed a female staff member who served as his aide.
The ASP's 21-member bureau suspended Khan last month following a U.N.-led investigation, while saying the suspension was "not an indication of the final outcome" in the matter.
The alleged victim, a Malaysian lawyer who worked as Khan's direct assistant, gave her account publicly for the first time in an interview last week with CNN.
The woman, who asked to be identified by her first name, Sarah, described "an escalation of attempts" that resulted in physical assault.
"There is no way for something to be consensual when you have such a power disparity," she told CNN. "What I think many people don't understand is that Mr. Khan was not just my boss, he was everyone's boss."
In an open letter published this week on X, Khan's attorneys called on ICC member states not to remove him, arguing that procedures allowing him to defend himself had not been respected.
The lawyers said the investigation, which was not made public, did not conclusively prove wrongdoing.
They warned that if Khan were removed, "every future prosecutor will understand the lesson."
"Independence carries a price, and the machinery of the Court can be turned against its own officeholders whenever their independence becomes inconvenient," they said.
The statement appeared to allude to several high-profile cases handled by Khan.
In May 2024, Khan's office requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the Gaza war.
The ICC later issued warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif.
The move drew fierce condemnation from Israel and the United States, culminating in U.S. sanctions targeting several ICC officials, including Khan and several judges.
Khan will not attend Friday's session in person. He has been barred from entering the United States after being sanctioned by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump over the ICC's investigation of Israeli officials in connection with the Gaza war.
Lawyers representing Khan have said he has not been granted accreditation to attend the session or formally respond to the allegations before the vote.
Stephan Rapp, a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, said the process may have been imperfect but the investigation was thorough.
"My own view is that the evidence is more than sufficient for his removal, and I think for the ICC to have any credibility, he must be removed," Rapp told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"If they don't, that may be the end of the court," he said.
"It'll destroy its credibility and make itself even more vulnerable to these unfair attacks from the United States."
If Khan is removed, his departure would trigger a process to elect a new ICC prosecutor, which is not expected to conclude before next year.
Any arrest warrants issued during his tenure, including the warrant for Netanyahu, would remain in force because only ICC judges have the authority to withdraw them.
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