Navi Pillay, a former ICC judge who oversaw a UN report that concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday (October 9) "for her efforts to promote peace and international law".

Giving the prize to Pillay, 85, who has been a judge on several international courts, including the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, underlined the importance of maintaining an organised international order, the Nobel committee said in its citation.

Pillay was also chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory that concluded last year that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Israel dismissed the report at the time as "scandalous" and "fake".

Pillay received news of the award while she was attending a legal conference in the building in Nuremberg, Germany, where the first international criminal tribunal was set up in 1945-1946 to judge the crimes of the Nazis.

"The last thing I did is the delivery of the report on Gaza, naming what's happening there as genocide," Pillay told a crowd gathering to celebrate the award.

"If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump," she added, to laughter, in an apparent reference to the decision by last year's laureate, Maria Corina Machado, to give her Nobel medal to the US president in January to help gain support for her campaign for a democratic Venezuela.

The award body wanted the world to remember that the rule of law underpinned the international system set up to ensure peace and that this system was under "tremendous pressure", its chair said.

Trump last month urged countries to leave the ICC, has imposed targeted sanctions on several prosecutors and judges at the court and, according to sources, is considering wider sanctions in retaliation for the targeting of Israeli leaders.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

NUREMBERG, GERMANY (OCTOBER 9, 2026) (NUREMBERG FORUM 2026 INTERNATIONAL NUREMBERG PRINCIPLES ACADEMY - Must courtesy 'Nuremberg Forum 2026 - International Nuremberg Principles Academy'. For editorial use only)

1. BERNARD DUHAIME, UN SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON TRUTH, JUSTICE AND REPARATION, SPEAKING AT NUREMBERG FORUM AS A MEMBER OF THE AUDIENCE INTERRUPTS TO INFORM HIM THAT NAVI PILLAY HAS BEEN AWARDED THIS YEAR'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

2. ROOM APPLAUDING

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PABLO GAVIRO DIAZ, LAWYER ON THE PANEL, ANNOUNCING TO AUDIENCE THAT THEY HAD JUST HEARD PILLAY HAD WON THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE, SAYING:

"If I may interrupt Mr Duhaime, and for those of you who are following us online, we just heard that Navi Pillay, who is an extraordinary figure in the field of international law, international criminal law, and transitional justice, has just been awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize."

4. ATTENDEES IN HALL APPLAUDING / PEOPLE STANDING AND CHEERING AS NAVI PILLAY ENTERS HALL

5. PILLAY THANKING ATTENDEES FOR STANDING OVATION / PILLAY JOKINGLY SAYING, IN APPARENT REFERENCE TO PREVIOUS WINNER: "If you clap a little bit more I may share this prize with Trump." / LAUGHTER

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, NAVI PILLAY, SAYING:

"So now, I don't know about this. So my question is, is it true?"

QUESTION BY MEMBER OF AUDIENCE: "Did you know?"

PILLAY REPLIES: "No they called me. Christophe called me up now to tell me. And I said it must be a joke."

QUESTION BY MEMBER OF AUDIENCE: "It must be true. No, no it's everywhere, it's on the BBC. It's everywhere."

PILLAY REPLIES: "Firstly at this venue. Your applause means a great deal to me. Really. You know you don't want to receive an award, prize or anything, unless the public agrees that you deserve this. So that's how I appreciate your applause today. Thank you so much. But being a lawyer and a judge, I still want to verify this (AUDIO OF LAUGHTER). You want me to say more? I think it's very appropriate that I'm with friends and colleagues, all of whom support human rights. The last thing I did is the delivery of the report on Gaza naming what's happening there as genocide (AUDIO OF APPLAUSE). So one of the main reactions to that support is paying tribute to me for my courage. And you can imagine how surprised I was. Why would you need courage to speak the truth? You interpret the law, you look at all the facts. So it's an impartial, you know, impartial decision making. So right now, I'm still involved as an ad hoc judge in the case brought by the Gambia against Myanmar. So everybody says, when are you going to stop? When are you going to stop? I just turned 85 last month here. I can't obviously stop my work in support of the Nuremberg Principles Academy because of the people we meet here. But really thank you so much. You know, I hope this is not a joke then (AUDIO OF LAUGHTER). Thank you (AUDIO OF APPLAUSE)"

7. MORE OF AUDIENCE APPLAUDING