Dutch foreign minister declines to deny talks on curbing ICC powers are under way

Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen has declined to rule out that discussions are under way over sweeping restrictions on the International Criminal Court, following a report that the Netherlands is negotiating with Washington over changes that could severely undermine the court's powers.

Questioned in parliament on Wednesday, Berendsen said diplomatic discussions were taking place, but he would not specify whether proposals to shield national leaders and restrict the court's jurisdiction were under consideration.

The exchange followed a report by Dutch rights organisation The Rights Forum, citing anonymous diplomatic sources in New York, that the Netherlands was negotiating restrictions in response to US sanctions against the court.

Hanneke van der Werf, an MP from the Democrats 66 party, asked whether the talks covered immunity for heads of state and government, excluding nationals of countries outside the court's founding treaty from its jurisdiction, and weakening its ability to intervene when national authorities fail to prosecute.

Berendsen did not confirm the reported proposals, but nor did he say the government would reject them. "Discussions are currently taking place about the diplomatic track being pursued," he said. "I cannot anticipate which subjects are or are not on the table." He added that the Netherlands could not decide the matter alone, because more than 120 member states would potentially have to reach an agreement with the US.

"So the minister is not denying that it is true," Van der Werf responded. Berendsen replied: "All kinds of discussions are taking place, but that does not mean that this is the position the Netherlands is taking." He promised to send MPs a letter next week setting out the Dutch position for the Assembly of States Parties, which meets in The Hague from 30 November to 7 December after the session was relocated from New York because US sanctions and visa restrictions threatened participation.

Washington imposed sanctions on the ICC as an institution on 9 October, escalating a campaign that had already targeted most of the court's judges and prosecutors. The measures, in place since February last year, followed the arrest warrants issued in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. A six-month exemption for certain operational transactions expires on 7 April next year; once in force, the sanctions could prevent the court from transacting in US dollars and cut it off from large parts of the international financial system.

According to The Rights Forum, three potential restrictions would fundamentally alter the court's ability to prosecute international crimes: immunity for heads of state and government; excluding nationals of non-member countries from jurisdiction even for crimes committed on a member state's territory, which would threaten the legal basis for prosecuting Israeli officials over Gaza because Israel has not joined the Rome Statute while Palestine has; and changes to complementarity that could allow the mere existence of domestic legislation to block ICC proceedings, even without genuine national investigations.

Any rewrite of the court's core powers would face steep legal hurdles, since amendments to the Rome Statute require consensus or a two-thirds majority followed by ratification by seven-eighths of member states. The reported talks echo US demands, revealed by Middle East Eye in December 2025, for an end to the Palestine and Afghanistan investigations and treaty changes barring prosecutions of non-member nationals in return for lifting sanctions. The assembly ultimately reaffirmed the treaty's integrity, with one diplomat warning that amendments intended to appease Washington could damage the court more than the sanctions themselves.

The Dutch foreign ministry told The Rights Forum that no concrete proposals were currently before the Assembly of States Parties and that dialogue would take place within international law and with respect for the court's independence. Rights groups and legal experts have repeatedly urged the EU to activate its Blocking Statute to shield European service providers working with the court. Prime Minister Rob Jetten promised last month to protect the court "brick by brick", while Berendsen has called the statute a drastic measure that could be used only once. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on 20 October that activating it remained an option but required careful preparation.