Three judges of the International Criminal Court filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in a federal court in Manhattan against US President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, seeking to overturn sanctions imposed on them last year. The judges—Kimberly Prost of Canada, Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, and Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Benin—argue that the measures are illegal and designed to exert extrajudicial pressure on the court.

In the 66-page complaint, the judges contend that the sanctions exceed the scope of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and are not based on a genuine national emergency, as required by US law. They describe the restrictions as a “financial death penalty” that blocks access to credit cards, banking services, online platforms such as Amazon and Google, travel bookings, and in some cases health insurance. The lawsuit further states that the sanctions bar the judges from receiving evidence or arguments in any pending or future proceedings before them. The White House, State Department, and Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The sanctions were imposed by the Trump administration in 2024 in retaliation for the ICC’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a prior decision to open an investigation into alleged war crimes by US forces in Afghanistan. Washington has long rejected the court’s jurisdiction over American citizens and those of its allies, and the US is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the tribunal. The complaint describes the sanctions as an unprecedented attempt to coerce international judges and undermine the court’s independence.

The case, filed in the Southern District of New York, also invokes the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, arguing that the sanctions deprive the judges of property without due process. No hearing date has been set, and the US government has yet to file a response. The lawsuit comes as the ICC continues its work in multiple investigations, including those related to the situation in Palestine and Afghanistan, while facing sustained diplomatic pressure from Washington.