ICCBA Condemns the Expansion Of US Sanctions to ICC Judges

The International Criminal Court Bar Association (ICCBA) strongly condemns the expansion of United States sanctions on 5 June 2025 to include four judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa and Judge Luz del Carmen Ibanez Caranza are being sanctioned for serving as members of the Appeals Chamber in June 2020 and deciding to authorise the Prosecutor to commence an investigation into crimes under the jurisdiction of the Court in relation to the situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and which includes evidence of the potential liability of U.S. personnel.

Judge Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou and Judge Hohler are being sanctioned for ruling to authorize the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants against Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant. According to the Ofiice of the spokesman of the US Department of State, the “designations are made pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14203, which authorizes sanctions on foreign persons engaged in certain efforts by the ICC and aims to impose tangible and significant consequences on those directly engaged in the ICC’s transgressions against the United States and Israel”.  

These latest discriminatory measures are a serious escalation of political interference with the Court’s independent judicial functions and pose a direct threat to international justice.

The ICC operates under the Rome Statute, adopted and ratified by 125 States Parties. Its judges are elected to serve impartially and free from external pressure. Sanctioning them for fulfilling their judicial responsibilities is a violation of the rule of law and judicial independence. Such sanctions risk deterring international cooperation with the Court and puts its ability to carry out its mandate at risk.

The ICCBA urges all States Parties to the Rome Statute, as well as relevant international organisations, to express their unequivocal support for the Court, its independence and its mandate. Protecting the ICC from political retaliation is essential to safeguarding international criminal justice and upholding the principles of the Rome Statute.

As an independent organisation funded by its members, the ICCBA represents defence and victims’ counsel and their teams before the ICC. It stands firmly in support of all Court officials and legal professionals working on behalf of victims and the defence, who continue to carry out their duties with professionalism despite an increasingly challenging environment. The ICCBA reiterates its call for the immediate reversal of these sanctions.