WASHINGTON: Three judges of the International Criminal Court have sued US President Donald Trump and his administration over sanctions imposed on them last year, arguing the measures were unlawful.

In the lawsuit filed in the federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday, judges Kimberly Prost of Canada, Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda and Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Benin said the sanctions were designed to exert extrajudicial pressure with the objective of punishing and coercing the judges.

The Trump administration imposed sanctions on several judges at the International Criminal Court last year in an unprecedented retaliation over the war tribunal’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sanctions severely hamper individuals’ abilities to carry out even routine financial transactions as any banks with ties to the United States, or that conduct transactions in dollars, are expected to have to comply with the restrictions.

Legal basis

The lawsuit argues that the sanctions were against the law as they exceeded the scope of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and were not based on a genuine national emergency.

“The sanctions regime … is designed to exert extra-judicial pressure on these judges by targeting their financial and other personal interests, with the objective of punishing them for prior judicial decisions and coercing them into prioritising their private interests over deciding cases on the basis of the law and facts,” the lawsuit said.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2026