会長声明・決議

Statement by the President Opposing Sanctions against International Criminal Court (ICC) President Tomoko Akane and Others and Calling for the Protection of the ICC’s Independence and Impartiality

On August 18, 2026, the Government of the United States designated Tomoko Akane, President of the International Criminal Court (the “ICC”), and Abdoulaye Seye, a Senior Trial Lawyer , as persons subject to sanctions under Executive Order 14203 (the “Sanctions”). As a result, President Akane and Mr. Seye are subject to measures including the freezing of their assets in the United States, a ban on entry into the United States, and restrictions on transactions with U.S. persons and companies. They are already suffering serious effects on their daily lives, such as being unable to use credit cards or transfer money, and these effects are likely to expand further.

In recent years, the U.S. Government has imposed sanctions on ICC prosecutors and judges with the aim of weakening the ICC, and the Sanctions were imposed as part of that effort. According to media reports, Secretary of State Marco Rubio  cited as grounds for the Sanctions the involvement of President Akane and the others in prosecuting nationals of countries that have not consented to the ICC’s jurisdiction, and denounced the ICC as a corrupt, politicized supranational court that is maliciously abusing its authority.

The ICC is an international criminal court established under a treaty (the Rome Statute) to prosecute and punish individuals who have committed the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression . In light of developments such as the intensification of civil wars and regional conflicts, which have made ordinary civilians the victims of unimaginable atrocities that deeply shock the conscience of humanity[A4] , the ICC plays a role in preventing these crimes. It does so by ensuring that crimes within its jurisdiction, which undermine values shared by the international community such as respect for human rights and humanitarianism, do not go unpunished, and by realizing justice and the rule of law through the rigorous punishment of such crimes.

In particular, under the principle of complementarity , under which the ICC prosecutes particularly serious crimes that cannot be fully prosecuted and punished in the state where the crime was committed or in the suspect’s state of nationality (see Article 17 of the Rome Statute), the ICC is the last hope for victims of the gravest international crimes. It is an international judicial institution that can truly be called a bastion of the rule of law.

The ICC has jurisdiction over the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole  described above when they are committed within the territory of a State Party or of a state that has made a declaration accepting the ICC’s jurisdiction, regardless of the suspect’s nationality (Article 12, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Rome Statute). Even if the suspect’s state of nationality has not consented to the ICC’s jurisdiction, the ICC’s jurisdiction may extend to the case if the state where the crime was committed is a State Party or has made a declaration of acceptance. For example, in November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the hostilities in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. Palestine, the state in whose territory the alleged crimes were committed, acceded to the Rome Statute in 2015 and is a State Party to the ICC. Accordingly, where there are allegations that Israel has committed war crimes or other crimes in the Gaza Strip, the ICC has legitimate authority under the Rome Statute to issue arrest warrants against individual Israeli leaders. In response, however, the U.S. Government has imposed sanctions on the ICC prosecutors and judges involved in issuing those arrest warrants.

The ICC judges and prosecutors, including President Akane, have merely carried out their legitimate official duties in cases within the ICC’s jurisdiction in accordance with the Rome Statute, and there is no reason whatsoever for them to be sanctioned. Nor has any fact been established showing that the ICC is a corrupt, politicized supranational court that is maliciously abusing its authority.

The Sanctions impose serious disadvantages on individual judicial officers on the grounds that they have performed their duties in accordance with the law. Such sanctions, which could result in subordinating the judiciary to political pressure, obstruct the ICC’s ability to operate and impair its criminal justice functions. Such sanctions must be regarded as wholly unjustified.

Furthermore, sanctions against the President of the ICC risk making other ICC judges and staff, as well as the governments, companies, and civil society organizations that cooperate with the ICC, aware that they too may suffer similar disadvantages, thereby having a chilling effect on their activities. This could lead to the weakening of the very framework of international criminal justice.

On July 15, 2025, this Association issued the Statement by the President Opposing Undue Pressure on the International Criminal Court and Calling for the Protection of the Independence and Impartiality of the International Criminal Court , in which it stated that undue pressure on the ICC, including sanctions by the U.S. Government, is contrary to the rule of law and expressed its firm opposition to such pressure.

The Sanctions against President Akane and the others pose an even graver threat to the independence and impartiality of the ICC. In doing so, they create the injustice of allowing those responsible for the most serious international crimes to escape accountability and seek to deprive their victims of even their last hope. This must be regarded as fundamentally undermining the rule of law in the international community. This Association once again expresses its opposition to undue pressure on the ICC and calls on the Government of Japan to take the following actions:

1.      As a government that regards the rule of law as a pillar of its diplomacy, Japan should urge the U.S. Government to immediately withdraw its retaliatory measures against the ICC on the grounds that the Sanctions are baseless and unjust, and clearly reaffirm Japan’s position of supporting and cooperating with the ICC.

2.      Immediately coordinate with other ICC States Parties, provide the necessary support to ensure that States Parties do not decide to withdraw from the ICC or take similar action as a result of undue pressure from the U.S. Government or others, and take the lead in issuing a joint statement and pursuing other joint actions.

3.      Immediately consider all possible forms of support to protect ICC personnel, including President Akane, as well as individuals and legal entities cooperating with the ICC, so that they do not suffer disadvantages as a result of undue pressure from the U.S. Government or others.

As an organization of legal professionals whose mission is to protect fundamental human rights and realize social justice, this Association hereby expresses its firm support for the activities of the ICC, a bastion of the rule of law in the international community.

September 15, 2026

Daisuke Endo, President

Shiga Bar Association