ICC ends contract with French insurer amid US sanctions threat

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ended its contract with the French health and life insurer Axa effective immediately and will be moving to use another insurance provider.

The change, which was first reported by the Financial Times on Thursday, comes as United States President Donald Trump ramps up attacks on the Hague-based court.

Late last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the White House was preparing sanctions against the ICC amid the court’s call to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Trump administration has already sanctioned more than a dozen ICC judges and prosecutors, including the ICC president in August.

At last week’s United Nations General Assembly, Trump referred to the ICC as an “evil” and “a rogue institution” and urged countries to leave it. The only country to follow suit is Naoero, a tiny Pacific island nation formerly known as Nauru.

The Trump administration has said that the ICC oversteps its authority by claiming jurisdiction over citizens of countries, including the US and Israel, that have not ratified its founding treaty, known as the Rome Statute.

The ICC said sanctions could prohibit it from conducting transactions involving the US dollar, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Axa and the ICC expressed concern that the looming sanctions would force the Paris-based insurer to stop doing business with the court, the Financial Times reported. After months of talks, the two sides were unable to find a solution without using what is called a blocking statute — a legal mechanism designed to protect European firms from the impacts of sanctions imposed by third countries, the report said.

“Axa and the Court have decided by mutual agreement to terminate the contractual relationship,” the ICC spokesperson told Reuters news agency in a statement.

The ICC and Axa did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

The Financial Ttimes said that the court would use a new health insurance provider but didn’t specify the firm.