The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court, Karim Khan, has been suspended after a disciplinary process triggered by sexual abuse allegations against him reached a conclusion.

The ICC’s governing body announced the decision on Monday evening after its executive committee voted to refer the proceedings against Khan to a special session of the court’s member states for them to consider his future.

According to a document seen by the Guardian, the committee of 21 of the court’s member states voted by qualified majority to determine that Khan had committed serious misconduct in connection to the sexual abuse claims.

Khan, a prominent British lawyer, has repeatedly denied the allegations which first emerged in 2024 and threw his tenure leading the court’s prosecution department into disarray. The claims were brought by a woman who worked for him at the court’s headquarters in The Hague.

The decision to refer the proceedings to the ICC’s 125 member states is an unprecedented move for the court of last resort, and could lead to a vote on whether to remove the prosecutor from office.

In a statement, the governing body said its decision to suspend Khan was “not an indication of the final outcome”. Khan had already temporarily stepped aside from running the division of the ICC that investigates and prosecutes individuals accused of atrocities.

It said the executive committee had made its decision based on a UN watchdog report and the advice of a panel of judicial experts, as well as written submissions, understood to have been submitted by Khan and the alleged victim.

The vote by the committee is the latest development in a process that has embroiled the ICC for almost two years.

The allegations made by the ICC staffer relate to Khan’s conduct between 2023 and 2024. The woman has alleged he engaged in coercive and nonconsensual sexual behaviour over an extended period. The alleged misconduct is said to have occurred in hotel rooms on work trips, in Khan’s office and at his home.

Khan’s lawyers have previously said he “categorically denies” having “harassed or mistreated any individual, or having misused his position or authority, or engaged in any conduct that could be interpreted as coercive, exploitative, or professionally inappropriate”.