US sanctions the International Criminal Court after Navi Pillay wins 2026 Nobel Peace Prize

The award and Trump's reaction

Navi Pillay, a South African jurist who is 85 years old and a former ICC judge, was named the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate on Friday 9 October. The Nobel committee cited her efforts to promote peace and international law, which it said opened the way to a more comprehensive global legal order.

Donald Trump criticized the decision at a rally in Syracuse, New York, on Friday and in a social media post. He called the people responsible "radical ideologues" and "enemies of civilization", and said the choice would permanently discredit the prize. He wrote that he knew nothing about Pillay.

I don't know anything about this woman, and nobody knows!

Trump said the United States, represented by himself as president, should have received the prize. He claimed he had resolved eight wars and said he would soon resolve or win two more, a reference to the wars in Iran and Ukraine. He also said the committee in Norway was corrupt.

Sanctions against the court

Hours after the award, the US government announced sanctions against the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which it has accused of acting in a politicized way and targeting Israel. Earlier US sanctions had targeted judges and staff, with figures differing by account: 17 judges and officials in one report, and nine of the court's 18 judges in another. The new measure targets the court itself as an institution.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions bar US companies and organizations from carrying out transactions with the court, and were meant to defend US sovereignty. The administration said it aims to "cut its resources and paralyse its capacity to function". Some of the measures take effect only after a six-month grace period, which Washington says gives member states time to negotiate a solution to US concerns.

Pillay's response

Pillay responded on Saturday by video at an event at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo. She said there was a great deal of tension and anxiety about the future of international courts, especially the ICC, and that the sanctions were the most serious part of the story.

The most important thing is that sanctions were announced by a country against judges, simply because of the judicial orders they issue. This is unprecedented, unacceptable.

The court said the measures represented an attack on the rule of law and on the foundations of the international legal order. Pillay's career includes service as an ICC judge, a term as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and chairing a UN commission of inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel. That commission's report concluded there were reasonable grounds to consider that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.

What comes next

The ICC is based in The Hague, began operating in 2002, and investigates crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and crimes of aggression. Its cases include Darfur, Gaza, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ukraine. Tgcom24 reported that 125 states are members, including Italy. The court has no police powers and relies on member states to enforce its decisions. The European Union has also responded to the sanctions, though the available reports do not detail its position.