Karim A. A. Khan KC

On 12 February 2021, Mr Karim A. A. Khan KC was elected as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the nineteenth session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute in New York. Mr Khan was sworn in on 16 June 2021.

Karim was an Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and served as the first Special Adviser and Head of the United Nations Investigative Team to promote accountability for crimes committed by Da'esh/ISIL in Iraq (UNITAD) between 2018 to 2021. UNITAD was established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2379 (2017), to promote accountability efforts for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Da'esh/ISIL.

Karim is a barrister and King's Counsel with more than 30 years of professional experience as an international criminal law and human rights lawyer. He has extensive experience as a prosecutor, victim's counsel and defence lawyer in domestic and international criminal tribunals, including, but not limited to, the International Criminal Court, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He has also represented victims of human rights violations in Africa and Asia. Karim is a Bencher of Lincoln's Inn and was appointed a Recorder of the Crown Court in 2018. He was elected as the second President of the ICC Bar Association in July 2017 and is a worldwide Ambassador of the African Bar Association. He has published a number of leading texts on international criminal law and is the co-author of 'Archbold International Criminal Courts', now in US 5th edition.

The holder of a Bachelor of Laws degree with Honours from King's College, University of London, in addition to various other degrees and qualifications.