The United States sanctioned the International Criminal Court as an institution on October 9, the first time it has designated the court itself after sanctioning thirteen of its judges and prosecutors since February 2025. The designation blocks any court property under U.S. jurisdiction and generally bars Americans and U.S. companies from doing business with it, with some services allowed to continue for six months. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's argument is that a court the United States never joined has no right to prosecute Americans: "Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC." He said U.S. allies that belong to the court must "rein in the court," and that if they do not, "the United States will continue its campaign to dismantle the ICC, brick by brick, until Americans are threatened no longer." The court's position is that it can prosecute crimes committed on the territory of any of its 125 member states, whatever the nationality of the accused. It called the sanctions "an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order," and UN Secretary-General António Guterres called them "a serious blow to our collective pursuit of international criminal justice."
What the designation does
The State Department acted under Executive Order 14203, which President Trump signed in February 2025. The order bars U.S. persons from providing money, goods or services to anyone designated under it, with criminal penalties of up to 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines, and it exposes foreign companies that deal with designated parties to the risk of U.S. sanctions themselves, according to a joint statement by more than 120 civil-society groups. Treasury licenses let some activity continue, and give U.S. companies and individuals six months to wind down their dealings with the court, CBS News and the Deseret News reported. Rubio presented that window as leverage: "We have structured this action to provide an opportunity for States Parties to negotiate and present a solution to address our concerns. If these efforts do not bear fruit, we will continue to adjust accordingly." He said the administration had "deferred this designation out of respect for our relationships and in hopes that the ICC would change course or would otherwise be restrained by States Parties."
The court's supporters warn that the practical reach is wider than U.S. assets. Because so much banking and computing runs through American firms, the civil-society statement says, even non-U.S. banks and technology providers may stop serving the court out of fear of penalties, which could affect its ability to hold a bank account, receive contributions from member states and pay its staff. It notes that three Palestinian human rights groups the U.S. sanctioned last year for cooperating with the court lost access to their bank accounts and IT services.
The dispute behind it
Neither the United States nor Israel is a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the court. Washington has long objected to the court's investigation of alleged war crimes by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and to its arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza. Rubio's statement framed the court as reaching for power over Americans: "Servicemembers defending their country, Border Patrol agents protecting our nation, and elected leaders ensuring our national security. They want more power, and they want it at our expense." The court is designed as a last resort for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression, stepping in only when national courts cannot or will not act. Rubio first promised in July to "dismantle the ICC, brick by brick, if necessary."
The designation came hours after the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, a South African former ICC judge who later chaired a UN commission that concluded in 2025 there were "reasonable grounds" to find Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Israel strongly disputes that finding, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the committee "has lost its moral compass." Rubio's statement did not mention the prize.
Responses
"The Court will continue to fully discharge its mandate, with independence and impartiality, acting only on the basis of the law and the evidence, for the sake of the countless victims of grave crimes," said the court's president, Tomoko Akane. The court appealed to its member states for support: "Its fate now rests also in the hands of the States that created it." The foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom said they "regret and strongly disagree with the announcement of sanctions," warning of "a significant impact on the Court's work, its dedicated staff and their families." Belgium and the Netherlands asked the European Commission to examine activating the EU's "blocking statute," a law that shields European companies and individuals from complying with certain foreign sanctions; Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said some of the court's partners were already pulling back in anticipation of U.S. penalties. The EU's foreign-policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said the six-month grace period "offers a window for dialogue." Not every member state rallied to the court. Uganda's foreign minister, Adonia Ayebare, responded by calling it an "increasingly rogue institution" that targets African officials, and said Uganda "will not hesitate to leave" if it ever investigates or indicts Ugandans. Independent UN human rights experts called the move a "brash attempt" to dismantle a system for holding perpetrators of the gravest crimes to account. Three of the court's judges are already suing the U.S. government to overturn the sanctions imposed on them individually and the executive order behind them.
Sources: U.S. State Department, "Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court", October 9, 2026; International Criminal Court, "The ICC strongly rejects US sanctions against the institution"; CBS News, October 9; UN News, October 9; Deseret News, October 9; Coalition for the ICC joint statement, October 12; MLex, October 9; The National, July 13; Anadolu Agency, October 12; Daily Monitor (Uganda), October 10.