The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, has been suspended after an 18-month investigation into accusations of sexual harassment, with his fate to be decided in a vote by member states.
The ICC's governing body is to send its conclusion to all 125 ICC member states, which will vote in a special session to be convened at a later date.
Its executive bureau said it made a decision on the disciplinary proceedings against Mr Khan and referred the matter to the ICC's Assembly of States Parties, but did not give details. "The decision of the bureau and the related documentation will remain confidential," it said in a media release.
Mr Khan's lawyers said in a statement that he rejected the conclusion in the strongest terms and denied any wrongdoing. "The decision is unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence," the statement said.
The ICC has been thrust into crisis by the investigation into Mr Khan – its most prominent official – as well as by US sanctions over the court’s actions, including arrest warrants for Israeli officials accused of war crimes.
Mr Khan has not been at the helm of the ICC office of the prosecutor since last May, when he took a voluntary leave of absence pending the outcome of the investigation. He is the first ICC prosecutor to be formally suspended by the court's oversight body.
Sources told Reuters that a report by UN investigators found a "factual basis" for the allegations of misconduct made by a female aide and that witness accounts "lend support to her claims". But a report by three judges that analysed the UN findings said the evidence was insufficient to establish the truth "beyond a reasonable doubt", the sources added.
Lawyers for Mr Khan told Reuters that the judges unanimously concluded that the "factual findings do not establish misconduct or breach of duty".
