JERUSALEM – Karim Khan, the British chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), published an academic paper in 2013 suggesting that his current efforts to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be a travesty of justice because the court is unable to provide defendants with due process.
The Washington, DC-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) discovered Khan’s essay. Published by Duke University Law School We analyzed the key elements of academic papers.
MEMRI founder and chairman Yigal Karmon wrote that Khan’s essay, titled “Advocacy: Representing a Client before the International Criminal Court,” revealed “the ICC’s inability to deliver justice.”
Calmon Citations This is an excerpt from an essay co-authored by Khan and Anand A. Shah, an attorney admitted to the New York State Bar.
ICC seeks arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Hamas leaders on ‘war crimes’ charges
Karim Khan is the ICC’s chief prosecutor. (Getty Images)
Khan’s academic paper raises serious doubts about whether defendants summoned to international tribunals will receive a fair trial.
In one striking example of how the cards are allegedly stacked against defendants at the International Criminal Court, Khan writes:[ICC procedures] To give permission[s] Prosecutors submitting and relying on anonymous summaries of witness evidence that may be seriously lacking in substance, coherence, or both…”
With regard to increased publicity and media noise, Khan argued in his paper that defendants face another obstacle to a fair judicial process before the ICC: “In the case of clients suspected or accused of committing international crimes, public perception of their guilt is often further amplified by the support of well-funded civil society groups, non-governmental organizations, and international media who spread a narrative that is accepted as the ‘truth’ even before their client appears in court.”
Lawyers for former Liberian President Charles Taylor (left to right), Karim Khan, unidentified lawyer James L. Sapwood, attend the third status conference in the case of the Prosecutor v. Charles Gankei Taylor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, January 26, 2007. (Photo by KOEN VAN WEEL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Khan also noted flaws in the ICC’s evidentiary rules: “The standard of proof applied at the confirmation stage – ‘sufficient evidence to believe’ – is of course lower than the ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ standard required to obtain a conviction at the trial stage,” he wrote.
The ICC is located in The Hague, Netherlands.
Khan earlier this month asked the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant on suspicion of committing war crimes during Israel’s operation to defeat the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are photographed in the West Bank in August 2023. (Amos Ben Gershom (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
In 2007, Khan was on the brink of being indicted for contempt by the ICC while representing former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who was accused of committing war crimes in Sierra Leone.
The judge warned Khan at the time, “Your code of conduct cannot override the court order I issued a few minutes earlier,” and the court “instructed Khan to remain seated.” As Khan evaded legal proceedings, the judge “asked the prosecution to continue with their opening statement.” Khan “dramatically picked up his papers and walked out of the courtroom,” according to the Cambridge Institute of International Criminal Law. The International Criminal Court found Taylor guilty in 2012.
Hamas terrorists were spotted during an anti-Israel military march in Gaza City. (Yousef Masoud/Majority World/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Hamas invaded Israel on October 7, massacring some 1,200 people, including more than 30 Americans. Hamas has also kidnapped more than 250 people. The jihadist terrorist organization is currently holding 125 hostages in Gaza.
Israeli government spokesman Tal Heinrich told Fox News Digital that the ICC was conducting a “vicious smear campaign” against Israeli leaders, and said the Israeli government had not yet read Khan’s 2013 essay or the MEMRI report.
Heinrich added that the ICC would not be able to thwart Israel’s plans to defeat the Hamas terrorist movement. Netanyahu said of the ICC arrest warrant, “This is the new face of anti-Semitism.”
Panoramic view of the International Criminal Court building in The Hague, Netherlands, April 30, 2024. (Selman Aksanger/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital sent numerous emailed press queries to Khan and the ICC, and multiple calls by Fox News Digital to the ICC went unanswered.
“They may be busy. Thank you for your understanding,” ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah told Fox News Digital in a WhatsApp text message about the lack of response from the prosecutor’s office. “I [c]It is the prosecution team that will be handling your enquiry and we cannot ask for any further assistance.’” Attempts to reach Khan’s co-author Shah were unsuccessful.
