The European Parliament announced on October 22 that the 2026 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is collectively awarded to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its officials.
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Announcing the 2026 laureate in the hemicycle, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said: “The European Union is built on respect for multilateralism and international institutions”.
“With the award of the Sakharov prize to the International Criminal Court and its officials, the European Parliament recognises the Court’s important work in upholding international law and justice.” Metsola said.
On October 9, the BBC reported that the Trump administration had unveiled sweeping sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a significant acceleration of its attempt to “dismantle” what it sees as a “rogue” institution.
The ICC investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression.
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The Court is a crucial actor in the global fight to end impunity, and through international criminal justice, it aims to hold those responsible accountable for their crimes and to help prevent these crimes from happening again, the European Parliament said.
Governed by an international treaty called the Rome Statute, the ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court.
The award highlights the ICC’s work, including investigations, prosecutions, trials and the issuance or authorisation of arrest warrants, the European Parliament said.
“The EU must protect the global mechanisms for international justice and accountability,” it said.
In the European Parliament’s 2025 annual reports on the implementation of the common Foreign and Security Policy and on the human rights and democracy in the world, MEPs expressed their deep concern at the growing threats and the various waves of sanctions imposed since 2025 on the ICC, notably by the US, as well as on its prosecutors, judges, staff and partners, considering these to be serious attacks on the international justice system.
MEPs have repeatedly called on the European Commission to activate the EU’s “blocking statute” to protect officials working at the ICC from extraterritorial attacks, and to enable it to continue its activities in complete independence.
The blocking statute protects European operators, regardless of their size or sector of activity, by nullifying within the EU the effect of any foreign judicial decision based on foreign laws, also enabling them to seek compensation in court for damages caused by the extraterritorial application of foreign laws.
In these reports, MEPs also welcome the continuation of the EU’s financial support for the ICC at a particularly difficult time for international justice.
With all EU member states being parties to the Rome Statute and therefore obliged to implement the decisions of the ICC, MEPs also emphasised that the growing disregard for international law and the politicisation of debates concerning international justice institutions constituted, in their view, an existential threat to the rules-based international order.
The President of the ICC and several judges visited European Parliament committees in 2025 and 2026 to explain to MEPs the consequences of US sanctions on their professional duties and their personal lives.
(Photo: Tony Webster, via Wikimedia Commons)
European Parliament awards 2026 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to International Criminal Court and its officials 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-22 11:26:09
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