The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced new sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), hours after South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote peace and international law.
Pillay, born in Durban, South Africa, in 1941, has spent decades working in international justice and human rights. She served as a judge at the ICC and as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. She also chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which concluded in 2025 that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.
Pillay currently serves as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar under the Genocide Convention.
Following the Nobel announcement, Rubio announced sanctions targeting the ICC as an institution. The measures restrict the Court’s access to US financial services, technology companies and the US Dollar. American companies and individuals conducting business with the Court have been given six months to wind down their dealings.
Rubio said the United States would “ban transactions with this rogue court”, adding that the measures were intended to cut off its resources and restrict its ability to operate against American interests.
The US administration is currently at war against the ICC over its investigations into alleged crimes involving American personnel in Afghanistan and the US government insists that only US courts can adjudicate US citizens.
The ICC has strongly rejected the sanctions, saying they constitute an attack on the rule of law and the foundations of the international legal order. The Court said the measures sought to obstruct justice and intimidate those working for or cooperating with the institution. You can read the Court’s full response here.
European countries and other US allies have rallied behind the ICC. Foreign ministries of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands, together with Canada and Japan, issued a joint statement reaffirming their support for the Court’s independence, impartiality and integrity.
The statement expressed strong disagreement with the American sanctions, warning that they would significantly affect the Court’s work, its staff and their families. The eight countries pledged to continue supporting the ICC and upholding the rules-based international system.
The joint statement is available on the UK Foreign Office website.
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