Can a court in The Hague put a sitting president on trial?

Yes, on paper. The International Criminal Court, established in 2002 under the Rome Statute, is the first and only permanent international court able to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. Its treaty is blunt about rank: under article 27, official capacity as a head of state or government shall in no case exempt a person from criminal responsibility, and immunities attached to that office shall not bar the Court from acting. The ICC is not the International Court of Justice, which hears disputes between states, and it is meant to complement national courts, acting only when they are unwilling or unable to prosecute.

In practice, its reach stops where treaties and arrests stop. The Court may act only on crimes committed in member states, by nationals of member states, or in situations referred by the UN Security Council, and it relies on states to make arrests. Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir visited Kenya, South Africa, China and several other countries despite an ICC warrant for his arrest, and was not arrested.

Recent warrants test the same limits. In March 2023 the Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian president Vladimir Putin over child abductions in the invasion of Ukraine; Russia is not under its jurisdiction, but Ukraine had accepted the Court's jurisdiction. In November 2024 it issued warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister over the Gaza war. Russia denounced its warrants as "outrageous", and Netanyahu accused the Court of antisemitism. In March 2025 Rodrigo Duterte, formerly president of the Philippines, was arrested on an ICC warrant and flown to The Hague.

The Court divides opinion. Opponents, including major powers that have not joined, question its legitimacy over national sovereignty and political influence, and an African Union summit concluded that serving heads of state should not be put on trial.