[1]Khan: ICC to vote on whether to remove chief prosecutor on Friday
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has extended its interim suspension of Karim Khan KC, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court who is facing allegations that he sexually abused a young lawyer on his team.
The BSB imposed an immediate interim suspension [2] on Mr Khan in June, preventing him from practising as a barrister in England or Wales until 16 July 2026.
Mr Khan denies all the allegations.
But at a hearing one week before his interim suspension was due to expire, the BSB decided to extend the suspension.
The BSB confirmed: “An interim suspension hearing took place on 10 July 2026. The panel ordered on 13 July that Mr Khan is now suspended from his practice as a barrister until the BSB or a disciplinary tribunal have concluded or disposed of the matters that prompted his referral to an interim panel or such as a disciplinary tribunal shall otherwise direct.”
The BSB was represented at the hearing by Leo Davidson, a barrister from 11KBW.
The BSB said: “Interim suspensions are only imposed if the decision maker is satisfied that this is the appropriate course having considered the risk to the public and the clients if such action were not taken; and the grounds for referral would warrant a charge of professional misconduct and referral to a disciplinary tribunal.”
On Friday, the 125 member states of the ICC will vote on whether to remove Mr Khan from his role as chief prosecutor in light of the sexual misconduct allegations.
Mr Khan, who was called to the Bar in 1992, was named as the ICC’s chief prosecutor in 2021, following a successful career as a barrister and Crown prosecutor in the UK.
But three years into his nine-year term, a female lawyer from Malaysia, who worked as Mr Khan’s assistant and is known only as Sarah, came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
She spoke for the first time to CNN earlier this month, telling the broadcaster that the sexual misconduct began as “an escalation of attempts” after she joined Mr Khan’s office in February 2023.
Sarah, who still works at the ICC, said: “It was kind of like encroachments on the boundaries slowly – not just physically but emotionally as well.”
The lawyer said she froze when Mr Khan touched her but was afraid to say “no” because of fears of losing her job.
She told the broadcaster: “There is no way for something to be consensual when you have such a power disparity. What I think many people don’t understand is that Mr Khan was not just my boss, he was everyone’s boss. And it cannot be consensual.”
Sarah, who is 39, alleges that Mr Khan’s behaviour became more aggressive as time went on. She said Mr Khan, 56, came to her hotel room late at night, asking to join her for a “nap” but he then groped her when she pretended to be asleep.
The BSB decided to suspend Mr Khan following the ICC’s decision to suspend him at the start of June.
Mr Khan is represented by leading London law firms Carter Ruck and Bindmans.
Carter Ruck said Mr Khan “unequivocally denies all allegations of impropriety” and that he maintains that he has acted at all times fully in accordance with his professional obligations.
The law firm said it is taking all necessary steps “to protect his rights and ensure that due process is upheld.”
The Carter Ruck statement claimed there were political agendas at play in the case.
In March 2023, the same month that Sarah says the sexual misconduct began just weeks after she joined the chief prosecutor’s team, Mr Khan submitted an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin, relating to the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
In May 2024, when the allegations were first made within the ICC, Mr Khan submitted an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza conflict.
The US, which is not a member of the ICC, last year imposed sanctions against both the ICC and Mr Khan, including freezing bank accounts, shutting down access to email and imposing travel restrictions.