The South African-born jurist and former U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay, who is currently an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her efforts to promote peace and inter national law.Pillays work is a source of hope and inspiration to all those who seek to bring about a more peaceful world, said Jrgen Watne Frydnes, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, in announcing her win in Oslo, Norway.Her win is sure to be seen as a high-profile rebuke to U.S. President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who have both rejected the findings of a U.N. commission she led that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Both leaders also have been highly critical of the institutions where Pillay has worked.While her work has been global in scope, criticism often has been fiercely local, notably in places like Israel and in apartheid-era South Africa as she and peers took on some of the worlds most painful and sensitive legal issues and most vulnerable populations.Pillay, 85, received the news while attending the Nuremberg Forum, a gathering to discuss international law in Nuremberg, Germany, the location of the trials of Nazi war criminals that helped lay the foundations of international law.Firstly, at this venue, your applause means a great deal to me, she said to a standing ovation. You know, you dont want to receive an award, prize or anything unless the public agrees that you deserve this.And joking, she added: "But being a lawyer and a judge, I still want to verify this information.She chaired an investigation that determined Israel committed genocide in GazaPillay chaired the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, which was created by the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council. The commission a year ago concluded Israel was responsible for genocide in Gaza with a specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza.RELATED STORY | Nobel medicine prize goes to 3 scientists for shining light on brain activityThe commission also found that the Israeli president, prime minister and former defense minister "have incited the commission of genocide. Israel, which has refused to cooperate with the commission since it was established in 2021, has strenuously denied the charges.Pillay has repeatedly rejected accusations from critics who accused her of antisemitism or allegedly turning a blind eye to the Hamas attacks in Israel.In an interview with the AP last year, she recalled how she worked closely with some Jewish lawyers in the fight against apartheid in her native South Africa and was invited to Israel as the U.N. rights chief from 2008 to 2014.Her win puts the focus on a court under pressure from TrumpPillays win brings renewed attention to U.S. President Donald Trumps ongoing feud with the International Criminal Court. The Trump administration already has sanctioned 13 of the ICCs staff members, among them key prosecutors and nine judges including the courts Japanese President Tomoko Akane.U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has launched what he called a sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court.In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last month, Trump called the court an out of control institution and an anti-American tribunal with no jurisdiction over the U.S. as he urged member states to quit the rogue institution immediately.There are fears the court as a whole could be sanctioned, a move that could seriously hamper its ability to mete out justice.The Norwegian committee said it sought to strengthen international law at a time of conflict.Watne Frydnes said the award was a message to those seeking to undermine "the international rules based system and the institutions.At a time when the number of wars and conflicts is rising, and when judges and institutions of international law are under political attack, the Nobel Committee wishes to issue a reminder that the ability to resolve conflicts without force or violence is dependent on the international rule of law, the committee wrote in a news release.An international legal system in which war criminals are held to account and the victims of abuse see justice served is a precondition for a peaceful world.Pillay is currently serving as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations, in the ongoing genocide case against Myanmar.RELATED STORY | Climate activist Greta Thunberg joins aid ship sailing to Gaza aimed at breaking Israel's blockadeWhen countries do not have a national on the courts permanent, 15-judge panel, they can appoint an expert of their choice. Gambia, which launched the proceedings in 2019, selected Pillay when the country accused Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya minority group. ...read more read less