Tokyo has sharply criticised new United States sanctions on International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane, a veteran Japanese jurist, warning that Washington’s move undermines global efforts to uphold the rule of law.

The US measures target Akane and ICC Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal, accusing them of participating in what Washington calls a “corrupt and fatally politicised” court. The sanctions freeze any assets they may hold in the US and bar them from entering the country or using its financial system.

Japan’s foreign ministry said it had lodged objections, stressing that Tokyo “has consistently supported the ICC in its efforts to prosecute and punish the most serious crimes of concern to the international community and to uphold the rule of law.” From that standpoint, the ministry added, the US decision was “very unfortunate.”

Japan is the ICC’s largest financial contributor and a close US ally, but the United States itself has never joined the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the court. Successive US administrations have bristled at ICC investigations involving American personnel or close partners.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctioned officials had “directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction,” without citing specific cases.

The ICC condemned the sanctions, saying they “undermine the rule of law” and warning that “when judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk.” Established in 2002, the court is mandated to prosecute genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression when national courts are unwilling or unable to act.

The latest US move comes amid intense backlash in Washington over ICC investigations involving Israel. The court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in Gaza, prompting Netanyahu to hail the US sanctions and brand the ICC “a kangaroo court that cloaks its abuse of power in the language of international law.”

The Netherlands, which hosts the ICC in The Hague, also criticised the US action, insisting that international courts “must be able to freely carry out their mandates.”

Akane, 70, has served as an ICC judge since 2018 and became president of the court in 2024. She was previously targeted by Russia, which issued its own warrants for ICC officials after the court sought the arrest of President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.