ICC judges sue Trump administration over 'unlawful' sanctions

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - NEW YORK — Three International Criminal Court judges on Wednesday sued US President Donald Trump and ​his administration over sanctions imposed on them last year, arguing the measures were unlawful.

The case, filed in the Southern District of New York on Wednesday, is the latest effort to challenge what many experts have described as the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine international law.

In the lawsuit ‌filed in the Manhattan court, judges Kimberly Prost of Canada, Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda and Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Benin said the sanctions were designed to exert extrajudicial pressure with the objective of punishing and coercing the judges.

If successful, the lawsuit could curb the American government’s ability to use sanctions to punish judges for making rulings it disagrees with.

The Trump administration imposed sanctions on several ​judges at the International Criminal Court last year in an unprecedented retaliation over the war ⁠tribunal's issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a past decision to open a case ​into alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan.

Neither Israel nor the United States are members of the court, which is based in The Hague and was officially established in 2002 to prosecute the most serious international crimes, like genocide.

Sanctions severely hamper individuals' abilities to carry out even routine financial ​transactions as any banks with ties to the United States, or that conduct transactions in dollars, are expected to have to comply with the restrictions.

The White House said in a statement that Trump “lawfully” exercised his powers, and that “the administration will continue to vigorously defend the president’s actions — protecting the national security and foreign policy of our country first and foremost.”

In February 2025 the State Department imposed sanctions over the ICC’s investigations into actions by Israelis and Americans.

Over the following months, the list of sanctioned judges on the court grew. In June, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions on four judges, including Alapini-Gansou and Bossa, for issuing arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.

In August, officials added two judges to the list, including Prost. She was targeted for her role in authorizing an investigation into US military personnel at secret CIA sites in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The administration then imposed sanctions against two more judges in December.

The United States has also placed other ICC officials under sanctions, including the chief prosecutor, Karim Khan.

The new lawsuit argues that the sanctions exceeded Trump’s authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act because they were not based on a national emergency and they conflict with international and federal law.

The suit also argues that the State and Treasury Departments violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which prohibits decisions that are “arbitrary and capricious.”

These sanctions fall into that category, according to the lawsuit, which argues that the State Department has not even shown that the judges fall within the category of people against whom sanctions have been authorized.

Prost and Bossa also claim that blocking their US-based bank accounts violated the Fifth Amendment, which requires due process under American law..

“Targeting international judges for carrying out their judicial duties is an unprecedented attack on judicial independence and the rule of law,” said James A. Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, a rights-focused legal organization that is representing Prost in the case.