The International Bar Association (IBA) denounces US sanctions against the International Criminal Court, saying they threaten its mandate and the independence of judges and lawyers working for victims. The association called on ICC state parties to take “concrete and swift” action to protect the court and limit the sanctions’ impact.
The US administration imposed the sanctions on 9 October under Executive Order 14203 of 6 February 2025. Unlike earlier measures targeting individual officials and judges, the new sanctions designate the court itself as a specially designated national.
IBA Denounces US Action Against the ICC
IBA president Claudio Visco said the association was “deeply concerned” the sanctions would put the mandate of the world’s only permanent international criminal court at risk and frustrate victims’ hopes for justice. He said they also imposed “an unacceptable burden” on judges and lawyers working on victims’ behalf.
IBA executive director Dr Mark Ellis said the US move showed “the total rejection of the rule of law” by the Trump administration. The IBA’s call asks state parties to act, though the source report does not specify what measures they should take.
Law Society Leaders Criticize Sanctions
In a separate statement, Mark Evans, outgoing president of the Law Society of England and Wales, said sanctioning the court itself amounted to “a serious attack on the independence of the international justice system.” His criticism also focused on the decision to target the institution, rather than individual officials and judges.
The debate concerns legal institutions and the people who work within them. Law News Day has also covered mediation in a criminal legal aid dispute and criminal law disagreements among appeals courts.
ICC Officials Describe Rule of Law Concerns
Last month, ICC Judge Nicolas Guillou spoke about attacks on the court at an event in Blackhall Place. The Law Society’s Centre of Justice and Law Reform presented him with a medal of excellence there.
Earlier this month, ICC president Judge Tomoko Akane told an event in the Four Courts that 12 of the court’s 18 judges were then subject to coercive measures. She said the attacks used narratives specific to the ICC and its activities, but were also part of “a broader assault against the rule of law.”
When announcing the sanctions last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the ICC a “rogue court” and urged US allies to “rein in” the court. He said the United States would continue its campaign to dismantle the court, “brick by brick,” until Americans were no longer threatened.
The ICC said it would not be deterred by what it called an attempt to obstruct justice and prevent the court from doing what it was created to do. It described the US action as “an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order.”
The IBA’s appeal to state parties and the ICC’s statement set out their responses to the sanctions. A separate Law Society AGM report covers another debate involving legal institutions.
Read the Law Society Gazette report for the statements from the IBA, Law Society leaders, ICC judges and the court.
