The United States (US) has imposed sweeping sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), cutting off the tribunal's access to banking, insurance, software and other essential services.
The sanctions, announced by the US Treasury Department on Friday, 9 October 2026, is the first time Washington has targeted the court as an institution rather than individual officials.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the measures were intended to “defend US sovereignty” and accused the court of seeking to prosecute Americans.
“Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC,” Rubio said in a statement.
The sanctions block any assets the ICC holds in US jurisdictions and set a six-month timeline for US companies and individuals doing business with the court to wind down those operations.
Companies that continue to provide services to the court after that period could face penalties from the US government.
Grace Period and Exemptions
The Treasury Department issued four general licences authorising specific transactions related to telecommunications, enterprise software, pension payments and detainee-related matters.
An initial six-month grace period allows member states to continue paying for the court’s operations while negotiations take place.
The ICC has spent months preparing for the sanctions, shifting office computers from Microsoft software to open-source alternatives and arranging new banking and health insurance providers.
Acting chief prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said the court had been “extremely dependent” on US technology and was seeking alternatives to maintain its independence.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the decision “a serious blow to our collective pursuit of international criminal justice“.
The United Kingdom (UK) joined Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands in reaffirming “continued and unwavering support” for the ICC, saying they “regret and strongly disagree with” the sanctions.
The Netherlands, which hosts the court in The Hague, has asked the European Union (EU) to prepare a blocking statute to protect the ICC from the measures.
The ICC said it “will not be deterred” and called the sanctions “an assault on the rule of law”.
