Oslo (AFP)
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to South Africa's Navi Pillay, the judge who headed the Rwanda genocide tribunal.
Pillay, currently a judge on the International Court of Justice, has been "instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are prosecuted," said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo.
Pillay headed the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), which does not speak on behalf of the world body.
The UN said the prize for Pillay was testimony to the "value" of rights.
The Nobel jury said it was honouring her at a time when "the system of international law is under tremendous pressure and its institutions are under attack."
"At a time of existential challenges - including more wars and conflicts than the world has seen in a long time -- international law is no longer just a supplement to peace and security. It is an absolute necessity," Watnes said.
"Navi Pillay's commitment to universal legal principles and her firm moral compass are constants in a long career," the committee said.
Last year, the prize went to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who subsequently gave her Nobel gold medal to Trump.
The prize comes with a gold medal, a diploma and a prize sum of $1.2 million.
The award will be presented at a formal ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of the prizes' creator, Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel.
The Peace Prize is the only Nobel awarded in Oslo, with the other disciplines announced in Stockholm.
On Thursday, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Canadian poet Anne Carson for her modern twists on Greek mythology and antiquity that have inspired new forms of writing.
The 2026 Nobel season winds up Monday with the economics prize.