"Today, I filed a request seeking authorization to hold a hearing on the confirmation of charges against Joseph Kony in his absence," Prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement.
"Mr Kony has sought to evade judicial proceedings at this court for more than 17 years", Khan added, saying this was the first time his office had sought a confirmation of charges hearing in a suspect's absence.
Ugandan rebel leader Kony is the ICC's longest standing suspect at large. An arrest warrant against him was issued in 2005 for 33 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Kony led the "The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)" which abducted, mutilated, and killed thousands of civilians in northern Uganda and across the region.
The ICC, in 2005, issued an arrest warrant for Kony and other senior LRA figures, charging them with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Later-LRA leader Dominic Ongwen surrendered in 2015 and was convicted in February 2021.
The LRA is reported to still operate in parts of Sudan and South Sudan.
This report was prepared using data from Reuters and Agence France-Presse