The sanctions, announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, freeze the court's assets in the US and block financial transactions and IT agreements between the ICC and US companies. The White House has previously targeted individuals and groups linked to the ICC, but the latest measures are aimed at the court itself.
The announcement came hours after Navanethem 'Navi' Pillay, a South African jurist and former UN human rights chief, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. President Donald Trump, who has long said he believes he deserves the award, has not commented on the decision, although his Truth Social account promoted a post from former lawyer David Schoen saying the judging committee had 'shamed itself beyond repair'. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nominated Trump for this year's prize.
Rubio said: 'President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute Americans. That is why, today, the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court. We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate.'
The ICC, established in 2002, has 125 member states including Australia, though the US is not among them. The court condemned the sanctions as 'aimed at disrupting the court's operations' and 'intimidating' its employees, adding: 'The court, for its part, will not be deterred.'
Foreign ministers from Britain, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Japan and the Netherlands issued a joint statement saying they 'strongly disagree' with the sanctions. 'If put into effect, these sanctions will have a significant impact on the Court's work, its dedicated staff and their families,' they said. The US has allowed certain ICC operations to continue for 180 days.