12/10/2026 Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Tekke Panman (Netherlands, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur for “Threats to the International Criminal Court’, made the following statement today:
“I am deeply disappointed by the US administration’s announcement on Friday 9 October that it would impose institutional sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC). These sanctions come just one day after the Russian Federation requested the Netherlands to extradite nine current and former ICC officials. Pressure on the Court is coming from more than one direction, and the response from Europe must be equally clear.
Just two weeks ago, PACE unanimously adopted a Resolution and a Recommendation condemning the imposition of sanctions on ICC judges, prosecutors, as well as on their families. These independent officials have done nothing other than to fulfil their international mandate to investigate and prosecute alleged war crimes and, crimes against humanity falling within the jurisdiction of the ICC.
The new institution-wide sanctions are an attack on the independence and integrity of the ICC, a body that plays a vital role in fighting impunity for the most serious international crimes and is central to the international rules-based order. As stated in the above resolution, attacks on such institutions are “a direct attack on the international order itself”. I therefore call on the US administration to reconsider its departure from the international legal order and to carefully reflect on the consequences - including the long-term consequences - of sanctioning international justice. I fully support the call by the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties to the ICC for the immediate revocation of these sanctions.
It is now more urgent than ever for the EU to activate the EU Blocking Statute to protect the ICC - and for equivalent measures to be put in place in non-EU member States.
I reiterate the calls made in PACE Resolution – all of which remain relevant to the new institution-wide sanctions. I call on Council of Europe member States, the EU and all States Parties to the Rome Statute, to support the ICC fully, including by ensuring that service providers operating within their territories do not use that market access to implement US sanctions. International organisations and their officials based in Europe must continue to have access to all the services - including banking, insurance, medical and IT - they need to fulfil their international mandate. This may require significant efforts to strengthen technological and financial autonomy with reliable long-term service providers to ensure that our multilateral organisations can continue to defend the international justice system and the rule of law.”