US imposes sanctions on ICC shortly after former judge receives Nobel Prize

The government of the President of the United States (USA), Donald Trump, imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) this Friday (9), just hours after one of its former judges won the Nobel Peace Prize. The decision puts Washington on a diplomatic collision course with European allies.

ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan condemned the sanctions and said they will not impede the court's work.

The Trump administration has long maintained a hostile stance toward the court and has previously imposed sanctions on its prosecutors and judges. The measure taken today goes much further, as it could punish companies that provide services to the court itself.

“President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to try Americans,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement seen by Reuters ahead of the official announcement.

“That’s why, today, the US is imposing sanctions on the ICC. We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off its resources and crippling its ability to operate.”

The deputy prosecutor told Reuters the sanctions "must be condemned."

"The sanctions aim to undermine the rule of law at the international level and the work that an independent judiciary is doing," Khan said. "Our work will continue in all situations, investigations and lawsuits."

Washington has long expressed outrage over arrest warrants issued by the ICC against Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and over a previous investigation into the actions of US soldiers in Afghanistan, which the court has since closed.

Founded in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the ICC has 125 member states, including all European Union countries and all members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), with the exception of the United States and Turkey.

In the past, the court has received strong public support from member countries, including key US allies. The institution is based in the Netherlands, a member of the European Union and NATO.

Navi Pillay, a South African jurist who won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in international criminal justice, served as a judge at the ICC's Chamber of Appeals from 2003 to 2008. In its justification, the prize committee said it sought to “send a reminder” at a time when “judges and institutions of international law are under political attack.”

“An international legal system in which war criminals are held accountable and victims of abuse see justice served is a precondition for a peaceful world,” the committee added.

Rubio said the sanctions were structured to give the court and its member states the opportunity to address U.S. concerns.

He did not provide further details, but a senior State Department official said the U.S. Treasury would issue a set of licenses “to protect its interests,” an apparent reference to temporary exemptions from some sanctions.

U.S. sanctions typically prevent all companies based in the country from doing any work with a sanctioned organization, forcing banks to close accounts, insurance companies to end coverage, and software companies to cease cooperation.

The Trump administration had already imposed targeted sanctions on court officials during its first term, which were revoked by US President Joe Biden. Washington announced new sanctions just days after Trump returned to office in January 2025.

Court officials have been preparing for months for the possibility of sanctions against the institution itself, replacing Microsoft software on office computers with open-source equivalents and taking new steps regarding banking and health insurance services.

Navi Pillay

Nobel Peace Prize winner Navi Pillay, a former ICC judge, warned this Friday (9) that growing political attacks on international law risk returning the world to a system in which “power, not the law, determines whose suffering matters”.

“This award reinforces my conviction that we must unite in defense of the rule of law, independent courts and a principled international legal order,” Pillay said in a statement released in Nuremberg, Germany, after receiving the news that he had won the award.