The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to South Africa's Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, the judge who headed the Rwanda genocide tribunal and last year presided over a UN commission that accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.

"A common thread runs ⁠from her early ​work ⁠defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood up against ⁠apartheid to her service as a ​judge ⁠in some of ‌the key international court cases of our time," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday.

It described the 85-year-old judge as "one of the most courageous and important legal experts of our time" at a time when "the system of international law is under tremendous pressure, and its institutions are under attack".

Pillay, currently a judge on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in a case in which Myanmar also stands accused of genocide, has been "instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are prosecuted," committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes said.

"At a time of profound challenges to the international legal order and the rule of law, this recognition carries particular significance," International Criminal Court president Tomoko Akane said.

Pillay headed the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), which does not speak on behalf of the world body, and which last year found that genocide was occurring in Gaza.

She told AFP at the time that her team had shared "thousands of pieces of information" with prosecutors at the International Criminal Court.

The UN said the prize for Pillay was testimony to the "value" of rights.

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