US sanctions the ICC but licenses software, cloud and SaaS to continue

US sanctions the ICC but licenses software, cloud and SaaS to continue

9 October 2026: The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has added the International Criminal Court in The Hague to its list of Specially Designated Nationals, and at the same time issued a general license that lets US companies keep supplying the court with telecoms, internet services and enterprise software, including cloud services and software as a service. The license has no expiry date. Other dealings with the court are allowed only to keep existing contracts running or wind them down, and only until 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on 7 April 2027.

The designation and four general licenses, numbered 13 to 16, were published together on OFAC's recent actions page. The software exemption drew wider attention this week after heise online reported it.

What General License 14 covers

The license has three working parts. Paragraph (a) authorises transactions ordinarily incident to sending or receiving telecommunications involving the court. Paragraph (b) authorises US persons to supply the court with services incident to communication over the internet, and lists them: instant messaging, chat and email, collaboration platforms, video conferencing, e-learning, automated translation, user authentication services, web hosting and domain registration among others.

Paragraph (c) authorises transactions needed for the provision, development, implementation, operation, maintenance or repair of enterprise software. A note defines the term broadly: enterprise management and ERP, financial management, HR and payroll, customer, donor or stakeholder relationship management, supply chain and procurement, facilities and maintenance, project and grant management, cybersecurity, and data storage, backup and recovery software, together with cloud-based services, including SaaS, that support them. The court's blocked accounts may be debited or credited for these transactions.

What it does not cover

The license is limited to the court as an institution. It does not authorise dealings with any other person blocked under the ICC sanctions regulations, and it says nothing relieves anyone of export licensing rules administered by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security.

Everything outside those categories falls under General License 13. It allows the maintenance or wind-down of operations, contracts and other agreements with the court until 7 April 2027, including standard subscription-based commercial services and invoices for work done before 9 October. After that date, a US supplier needs its activity to fit General License 14 or another license.

What a supplier to the court should check

A US software or cloud vendor with the court as a customer should map each service it provides against the categories of General License 14 and keep that record. Hardware supply, consulting beyond implementation and maintenance, and anything else that does not fit the definition of enterprise software would need to end, or be separately licensed, by the April deadline.

Non-US subsidiaries of US groups, resellers and integrators should check whether they count as US persons for the work in question. The court's own accounts are blocked; the licenses allow them to be debited or credited only for the transactions each one authorises.

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Sources

• OFAC: Recent actions of 9 October 2026, International Criminal Court designation and general licenses, 9 October 2026
• OFAC: International Criminal Court-related General License No. 14 (PDF), 9 October 2026
• OFAC: International Criminal Court-related General License No. 13 (PDF), 9 October 2026
• heise online: report on the exemptions for US technology firms, 27 October 2026