US Rejects International Criminal Court Jurisdiction Over Americans

The Department of Justice informed the International Criminal Court (ICC) this week that it rejects any assertion of jurisdiction over U.S. citizens.The position was conveyed to the ICC president by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a June 29 letter. “The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute and has never consented to the ICC’s authority,” the letter said. The Rome Statute is the treaty that founded the ICC. “As a matter of international law, a treaty cannot bind a non-consenting country,” Blanche said.“Accordingly, the ICC has no jurisdiction over U.S. persons—anywhere in the world—and any attempt to assert such authority is illegitimate, unlawful, and a direct affront to the sovereignty of the United States.”Blanche accused the ICC of increasingly acting in a “lawless and illegitimate manner.” The court had repeatedly imposed jurisdiction over non-consenting nations and pursued investigations that seem to be driven, in part, by “political pressure and institutional self-interest,” he said.On Feb. 6, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order allowing sanctions to be imposed on the ICC over its alleged bias against Israel and the United States.In the order, Trump said the ICC was imposing jurisdiction and initiating preliminary investigations on personnel from the United States and its allies. At the time, the ICC had issued arrest warrants against two Israeli officials, including the country’s prime minister, in relation to Israel’s actions in Gaza that were triggered by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack against the Jewish state.“The ICC’s recent actions against Israel and the United States set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel, including active service members of the Armed Forces, by exposing them to harassment, abuse, and possible arrest,” Trump said.Blanche’s letter also said that allegations of internal misconduct at the ICC raise “serious doubts” about the court’s impartiality, legitimacy, and credibility. Last month, ICC’s governing body announced that its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, had been suspended, pending a vote by member states, following an investigation into accusations of sexual harassment.The acting attorney general said that Congress had made the United States’ position on the matter “unmistakably clear” since 2002 by passing the American Servicemembers’ Protection Act.The Act “expressly repudiates” ICC jurisdiction over Americans, bans the United States from cooperating with the court, and authorizes the U.S. president to use “all means necessary and appropriate” to secure the release of any American citizen who has been detained due to an ICC warrant or request.“This authority will be taken seriously and, if required, fully exercised to protect our people,” Blanche wrote, adding that the United States will not cooperate with any ICC inquiry, investigation, proceeding, or summons. The United States will also not extradite or transfer any American to the ICC and will “actively oppose” such efforts by other countries, he said.The ICC has previously issued arrest warrants against prominent world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallan, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.The ICC was created in 2002 after the Rome Statute came into force that year. The statute established the court’s jurisdiction over genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of aggression. In total, 125 nations are members of the ICC.Headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, ICC judges have issued 61 arrest warrants in total, out of which 22 individuals have been detained and have appeared before the court due to cooperation from member states. Detainees are kept in the ICC Detention Center located in a Dutch prison complex.Lawsuit Challenging Executive OrderBlanche’s letter to the ICC comes days after three sitting judges of the ICC filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York challenging Trump’s Feb. 6 executive order, according to a June 24 statement from the Open Society Justice Initiative.The executive order said that the United States would impose “tangible and significant consequences” on people responsible for the ICC’s transgressions, including officials, agents, and employees, as well as their immediate family members. Such actions include blocking their assets and properties and suspending entry into the United States.In its statement, the Open Society said that eight ICC judges have so far been sanctioned under the Trump administration, three of whom are parties to the case—Kimberly Prost from Canada, Reine Alapini-Gansou from Benin, and Solomy Bossa from Uganda.Each of the three judges has been on ICC judicial panels addressing issues related to Palestinian issues or Afghanistan.“Targeting international judges for carrying out their judicial duties is an unprecedented attack on judicial independence and the rule of law,” said James A. Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative.In May, the U.S. Department of the Treasury reimposed sanctions on U.N. Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese after a judge temporarily blocked enforcement of sanctions against her.Albanese has repeatedly accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. In July 2025, when she was first put under sanctions, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Albanese spread “unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West.”Albanese has denied any allegations of anti-Semitism.Reuters contributed to this report.