International Criminal Court and Gravity Criteria; From Theoretical Challenges to Practical Problems

One of the important mechanisms for the admissibility of a situation or case in the ICC is the criterion of gravity contained in Article 17 (1) (d) of the Rome Statute. The lack of definition of this criterion in statute has caused institutions of the court to publish factors for its explanation and remove its ambiguity. But this criterion has its own theoretical challenges that make it difficult to achieve the goals of the Court. In applying it, also some inconsistencies can be seen and sometimes expediency overrides justice. In this study, theoretical challenges and practical problems are discussed. The research findings show that in the application of this criterion, a single approach has not been used and there is disagreement among the institutions of court in explaining it. This has led to decisions in which there are fundamental doubts about their fairness, and challenges the legitimacy of the Court