ICC Judges Sue Trump Over Sanctions: 'Never Happened Before'

Three International Criminal Court (ICC) judges sanctioned by the United States government are suing President Donald Trump and other senior American officials. In their lawsuit, they claim the sanctions against them are unlawful and unprecedented. In the filing submitted to a court in New York, US, on Wednesday (24/6) local time, judges Kimberly Prost of Canada, Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, and Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Benin accused the sanctions of being intended to ‘exert extra-judicial pressure’. The Trump administration had previously imposed sanctions on at least 11 ICC officials, including the chief prosecutor, consisting of travel bans and asset freezes. Many of these actions were direct retaliation for the ICC’s investigation into key US ally Israel, which in 2024 issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes. The lawsuit states that the sanctions imposed on Prost, Bossa, and Alapini-Gansou aim to ‘punish them for prior court decisions and coerce them into prioritising their personal interests over deciding cases based on law and fact’. It states that the sanctions are ‘tantamount to a financial death sentence’, as the judges are unable to use credit cards, access banking services, or utilise online platforms such as Amazon and Google. ‘The imposition of cruel sanctions against international judges is unprecedented,’ reads the 66-page document demanding the sanctions be revoked. In addition to Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, and Bradley Smith, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, are also named in the lawsuit. The United States, Israel, and Russia are among the countries that reject the ICC, which is supported by nearly all Western democracies. The ICC was established in 2002 as a court of last resort when countries lack adequate legal systems to ensure accountability.