Dr Priya Urs jointly awarded the Journal of International Criminal Justice Prize

Date 27 January 2025

Dr. Priya Urs, Junior Research Fellow in Law, has been jointly awarded the Journal of International Criminal Justice Prize for 2020 (delayed due to COVID-19) for her article ‘Judicial Review of Prosecutorial Discretion in the Initiation of Investigations into Situations of “Sufficient Gravity”’.

Priya's article suggests how to strike the difficult balance between prosecutorial independence and judicial oversight in the assessment of the ‘sufficient gravity’ or seriousness of a case, a legal requirement applied by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court as part of the decision whether to investigate a situation in which one or more international crimes are alleged to have been committed. The crimes falling within the Court’s mandate include genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

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Upon receiving the award from the journal's board of editors, Priya said 'it is a real honour to receive the Journal of International Criminal Justice Prize alongside Daley Birkett at Macquarie University. The Journal, founded in 2003 by the late Antonio Cassese, is consistently at the forefront of academic research in international criminal law and it is wonderful to have my research recognised in such a distinguished body of work. I am also happy to share that the Journal has made the article freely accessible'.

You can find out more about previous winners of the Journal of International Criminal Justice Prize here.