Everything Is Relative, Even Gravity: Remarks on the Assessment of Gravity in ICC Preliminary Examinations, and the Mavi Marmara affaire

In 2014, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court found that war crimes allegedly committed during the 2010 interception and boarding of the Comorian-registered Mavi Marmara, off the coast of Gaza, were of insufficient gravity to initiate an investigation. The Union of the Comoros sought review of this decision by Pre-Trial Chamber I, which concluded that the gravity evaluation was incorrect and requested the Prosecutor to reconsider her decision. This essay explores the two approaches taken to gravity assessment, and advances an alternative view based on the need to take into account the relevant factual circumstances — in this case, crimes aboard a vessel