UK Lawyers for Israel threaten to charge ICC prosecutor for misconduct

The pro-Israeli British Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) have threatened to launch an investigation into the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan, threatening to charge him with professional misconduct, according to reports.

The UKLFI wrote to Khan last week, according to The Telegraph, saying he will be reported to the UK Bar Standards Board unless he agrees to review the evidence against Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It comes after Khan on 20 May applied to issue arrest warrants against three Hamas leaders and two Israeli leaders.

The Israeli leaders were accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, backed with a catalogue of evidence, including collective punishment of civilians, starving Gaza’s population and wilfully causing great suffering.

The Office of the Prosecutor told The New Arab on Monday that it received the letter from UKLFI, adding UKLFI requested and were granted leave to make observations before the Pre-Trial Chamber pursuant to rule 103 and have done so. 

"The merits of the case are sub judice. The Office as a whole and the Prosecutor are alive to their mandate and ethical obligations," they said in statement to The New Arab.

"The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC underlines that it will not be improperly influenced by any form of threat and harassment in pursuing its Rome Statute responsibilities independently and impartially," it added.

Arrest warrants

The UKLFI lawyers claim that Khan’s arrest warrant and evidence against Israeli leaders, including Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, are false and misleading.

"Every allegation… is false," the letter to Khan reportedly states, adding that a refusal to reconsider the application in light of 'new evidence' amounted to a "serious lack of integrity".

UKLFI states this could put him in breach of the Bar’s code of conduct, which would require any lawyer to set the record straight if they become aware of inaccurate information being presented to the court.

If a lawyer is found guilty of professional misconduct, they can be disbarred and forbidden from practicing law.

"This requires him to act, and be seen to act, with honesty, integrity and independence, and not to mislead a court or anyone else. If we are not satisfied that he is complying with the code of conduct of the English Bar, we will report our concerns to the Bar Standards Board," Jonathan Turner, the chief executive of UKLFI said.

The UKLFI maintain that new information has come to light regarding the application for the international arrest warrants, which show his original charges to be in error, Israeli media have reported.

UKLFI added that they are calling him to "seek out all exonerating material, using the ICC’s substantial resources" claiming that it seemed to them he had "made no real effort to do so".

The group have asked him to confirm that he will carefully investigate and respond to them on the points raised in seven days, until 3 September, as the letter is dated 27 August.

"With respect to the threat to report alleged concerns to the Bar Standards Board, UKLFI must decide what is appropriate, alive to their own ethical responsibilities and their duty not to mislead," Khan's office told The New Arab in a statement. 

Khan specialises in international criminal law and international human rights law and has highlighted the plight of Palestinians in Gaza since the start of the war on 7 October.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 40,786 Palestinians and wounded at least 94,224 others since the start of the war on 7 October.

The bombardment has levelled entire neighbourhoods and plunged Gaza into a deep humanitarian crisis, with aid agencies warning against catastrophic levels of hunger in the Strip.