The International Criminal Court and its officials have been awarded the European Parliament’s 2026 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, while the court and its judges work under US sanctions.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced the award on Thursday 22 October, EUobserver reported. She made the announcement at the Parliament in Strasbourg, according to DW. The Parliament holds its plenary sessions in the French city.
“This prize recognizes the important work of the court in upholding international law and justice,” Ms Metsola said, DW reported. Ms Metsola, a Maltese MEP, has been the Parliament’s President since 2022.
The award names the court’s officials as well as the institution itself.
EUobserver’s report described the award as given in defiance of US President Donald Trump’s sanctions on the court.
The Court’s Response
“This award comes at a time when the court and its officials face unprecedented challenges, including sanctions aimed at disrupting the court’s judicial mandate,” Judge Tomoko Akane, the ICC’s president and a Japanese judge, told EUobserver in a statement.
She added: “In a world marked by rising conflicts, there is no peace without justice and no security without law.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive, welcomed the award, EUobserver reported. She said: “The ICC must be free to pursue its mission, independently, and without pressure or intimidation.”
Under US Sanctions
The ICC was set up in 2002 in The Hague and prosecutes genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, DW reported. It tries individuals, EUobserver reported.
When the ICC issued an arrest warrant in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes, the US responded by sanctioning the court’s judges, EUobserver reported. DW reported that the warrant concerns alleged war crimes in Gaza.
The Trump administration announced new sanctions against the court in October, according to EUobserver.
Judge Akane’s statement named those sanctions as one of the challenges the court faces.
French MEP Chloé Ridel initiated the nomination on behalf of the Socialists & Democrats group, the Parliament’s centre-left group, EUobserver reported.
The Prize and the Finalists
The Sakharov Prize is awarded every year by the European Parliament to people and groups who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms. It was set up in 1988 and is named after the Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, according to DW. Sakharov, a physicist, became one of the best-known critics of the Soviet government and died in 1989.
Past winners include Nelson Mandela in 1988 and, in 2023, Mahsa Jina Amini and the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran, DW reported.
The other two finalists for 2026 were the jailed Tanzanian lawyer and human rights defender Tundu Lissu and the imprisoned Iranian twin sisters Taraneh and Romina Rahimi, according to DW. Unlike them, the court is an institution rather than a person, though the prize has gone to more than individuals before: the 2023 award included the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.
The Ceremony in December
The laureate receives the prize at a ceremony in the Parliament in Strasbourg, which DW reported will take place in December.
More world news is in our International section.
Sources: DW, “Sakharov Prize won by the International Criminal Court (ICC)”, 22 October 2026 (https://www.dw.com/en/eu-s-sakharov-prize-won-by-the-international-criminal-court/a-79730914); EUobserver, “International Criminal Court wins EU’s top human rights prize in defiance of Trump’s sanctions”, 22 October 2026 (https://euobserver.com/244343/international-criminal-court-wins-eus-top-human-rights-prize-in-defiance-of-trumps-sanctions/)
Photo: Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The International Criminal Court’s towers in The Hague, seen from the Maurits Kiekpad in May 2026.
