South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay has won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote peace and international law.
Gatekeepers News reports that Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the award on Friday, October 9, recognising Pillay’s contributions to international justice and efforts to ensure accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Pillay, 85, is a former judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She also served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014.
The Nobel Committee said Pillay had been “instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted,” according to Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the committee.
Born in Durban, South Africa, to a family of Indian Tamil origin, Pillay built her legal career during apartheid, a period marked by racial segregation and discrimination. She became a prominent human rights lawyer and defended anti-apartheid activists, including Nelson Mandela.
Her work in international criminal justice included serving on the tribunal responsible for prosecuting crimes committed during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. She played a significant role in landmark legal proceedings that recognised rape and sexual violence as acts that could constitute genocide under international law.
Pillay later became the first woman to serve as president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda before joining the International Criminal Court, where she served as a judge from 2003 to 2008.
She subsequently led the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. The commission concluded in a 2025 report that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, a finding rejected by the Israeli government. The Nobel Committee said the award recognised Pillay’s broader work on international law and accountability, rather than constituting a judicial determination on the Gaza allegations.
Pillay currently serves as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice in proceedings concerning allegations of genocide against Myanmar over its treatment of the Rohingya population.
Reacting to the award, Pillay joked about United States President Donald Trump’s publicly expressed desire to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
“If you clap a little bit more I may share this prize with Trump,” she said during a standing ovation at a legal conference in Nuremberg, Germany.
She also expressed surprise at receiving the honour, asking: “Why would you need courage to speak the truth?”
The Nobel Peace Prize comes with a gold medal, a diploma and a monetary award of 12 million Swedish kronor, approximately $1.2 million. The award ceremony is scheduled to take place in Oslo, Norway, on December 10.
Pillay becomes the fifth South African to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, joining previous laureates including Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
The Nobel Committee said her career demonstrated the importance of international legal institutions in addressing conflict, protecting human rights and holding individuals accountable for serious crimes.
