Exclusive: UK government lawyer warned ICC bureau its Khan disciplinary process 'unlawful'

Exclusive: UK government lawyer warned ICC bureau its Khan disciplinary process 'unlawful' The United Kingdom's most senior government lawyer last year warned the executive body of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that its proposed process for disciplinary proceedings against Prosecutor Karim Khan was legally flawed, Middle East Eye can exclusively reveal. The legal advice, submitted in a private capacity in November 2025 to the president and the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), was drafted by Sir James Eadie KC, the UK's first treasury counsel and the government's standing counsel. Eadie warned the case risked undermining the integrity of the court if “fair process” was not followed in light of “political pressures” surrounding Khan over his office’s investigation into Israeli war crimes. Eadie was instructed by Khan's legal team to "assist and inform" the bureau during its consideration of the process. The 21-page document, obtained by MEE through diplomatic sources, criticised the “restrictive mandate” provided to the three-judge panel by the bureau to make a legal determination regarding the misconduct allegations facing Khan. It argued that the bureau had stripped the judges of the adjudicative power necessary for a fair process, and warned against denying the panel any fact-finding role. This, Eadie warned, would leave “no judicial, or independent, fact-finding phase at all” and would be “unlawful, unsustainable in principle”. The bureau disregarded the advice, and proceeded with its ad hoc procedure. Read more: Exclusive: UK government lawyer warned ICC bureau its Khan disciplinary process 'unlawful' Sir James Eadie KC (seen speaking to the UK parliament in September 2019) warned the ICC that its disciplinary process was flawed months before Karim Khan was suspended (Screengrab)