The administration of United States President Donald Trump on Friday, 9 October 2026, imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court itself, hours after a former judge of the court, the South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, was awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in international criminal justice.
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-IDRI-Masterclass.png")
The Trump administration has long been hostile to the court and has previously imposed sanctions on its prosecutors and judges. Friday’s move goes considerably further: it reaches the institution, and potentially punishes companies that provide services to the court.
US sanctions typically bar all US-based companies from any work with a sanctioned organisation, forcing banks to close accounts, insurers to end coverage and software companies to halt cooperation.
A senior State Department official said the US Treasury would issue a set of licences “to protect American interests” an apparent reference to temporary exemptions from some of the measures.
The European Commission said it still saw room for dialogue, noting that there is a six-month delay before the sanctions are applied.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the measure in a statement.
“President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute Americans. That is why, today, the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court. We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate.”
“Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC. We expect our allies, many of whom are part of the ICC and that rely on American service members for their defense, to rein in the court.”
“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.”
Mr Rubio said the United States had delayed the sanctions in the hope that the court and the states party to its founding Rome Statute would address American concerns, but that they had failed to do so. He also said the sanctions had been structured to give the court and its member states an opportunity to address those concerns, without providing further detail.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Washington has long been angry over ICC arrest warrants issued for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over alleged war crimes in Gaza, and over a past investigation into the actions of US soldiers in Afghanistan, which the court has since closed.
The Trump administration imposed targeted sanctions on court officials during its first term; those were rescinded under President Joe Biden. Fresh sanctions were announced after Mr Trump returned to office in 2025.
In the United States the court has drawn criticism from both parties. Former President Biden denounced the court for issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli officials in connection with the war in Gaza that followed the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023.
Mr Netanyahu praised Washington’s move. His office posted on X:
“The ICC is not a court. It is a political body that poses a mortal threat to law-abiding democracies worldwide and to the very idea of national sovereignty.”
Navi Pillay, who was awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, served as a judge of the ICC’s Appeals Chamber from 2003 to 2008. In its citation, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said it had sought to “issue a reminder” at a time when “judges and institutions of international law are under political attack.”
“An international legal system in which war criminals are held to account and the victims of abuse see justice served is a precondition for a peaceful world” Norwegian Nobel Committee
At a press conference on 9 October, Ms Pillay said efforts to undermine the international legal system:
“risk returning us to a world in which power rather than law determines whose suffering matters.”
The timing of the sanctions, announced hours after the award, has raised the question put by several of the reports on which this account is based of whether Washington was responding to the Nobel Committee’s decision to honour a former ICC jurist rather than President Trump, who has frequently complained about not receiving the prize and has openly campaigned for it.
Ms Pillay recently served as chair of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Israeli officials have rejected accusations of genocide and have accused the United Nations of spreading lies and promoting antisemitism. Health officials in Gaza say at least 74,000 Palestinians, including more than 18,000 children, have been killed over the past three years.
The court rejected the sanctions in strong terms and called on its member states to ensure it can continue to function.
“It is an attempt to obstruct the course of justice and to prevent the Court from doing what it was created to do. It is an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order.”
“The Court cannot stand alone. Its fate now rests also in the hands of the states that created it.”
“This is not just about defending a single institution, but about safeguarding the international order grounded upon the rule of law. History will judge this moment. Future generations, and above all the victims of mass atrocities, will ask how we responded when an institution created to protect them came under attack.”
The court said it would continue to “fully discharge its mandate”, but that it could not do so alone.
Court officials have been preparing for months for the prospect of sanctions on the institution shifting office computers from Microsoft software to open-source equivalents and making new arrangements for banking and health insurance. The court’s Registrar, Osvaldo Zavala Giler, called earlier this week for the European Union to be ready to use a so-called “blocking mechanism”, which allows it to shield European countries from the extraterritorial effects of sanctions.
The European Union said it was ready to take any necessary measures to enable the court to carry out its work.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide called the announcement deeply concerning, and said Norway was continuously assessing with other countries how best to support and protect the court, and whether it was possible to prevent the sanctions from being imposed at all.
The foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and Britain issued a joint statement reaffirming their support:
“If put into effect, these sanctions will have a significant impact on the Court’s work, its dedicated staff and their families. They work every day to bring those accused of the most serious international crimes to justice and to support their victims.”
Amnesty International’s Erika Guevara Rosas said:
“Sanctions are designed to isolate and ultimately destroy the International Criminal Court. This existential attack must fail. States must take concrete action to resist the imposition of these measures.”
Established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the court sits at The Hague in the Netherlands — itself an EU and NATO member and counts 125 states parties, including every EU member and every NATO member except the United States and Turkey. It has issued warrants in a range of situations, including, in March 2023, an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the alleged unlawful deportation and transfer of children following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
On the states that stepped back: the United States, Israel, Russia and Sudan each signed the Rome Statute and later notified that they did not intend to become parties the United States and Israel in 2002, Sudan in 2008 and Russia in 2016. That is a different act from withdrawal by a ratifying state, which Burundi and the Philippines have completed and others have announced. The source copy’s formulation that these four are “the only former countries” to have done so should not be relied upon.
[A MUST HAVE] Evidence Act Demystified With Recent And Contemporary Cases And Materials
Available now for NGN 40,000 at ASC Publications, 10, Boyle Street, Onikan, Lagos. Beside High Court, TBS. Email publications@ayindesanni.com or WhatsApp +2347056667384. Purchase Link: https://paystack.com/buy/evidence-act-complete-annotation
______________________________________________________________________ “Enhance Legal Practice With Authoritative Reports” — Alexander Payne Offers Comprehensive Law Reports, Spanning Over A Century Of Nigerian Jurisprudence
Interested buyers are encouraged to place their orders and enquiries via:
0704 444 4777, 0704 444 4999, 0818 199 9888
Website: www.alexandernigeria.com
