Navi Pillay Wins the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize
The 85-year-old South African jurist was honored for a career spent defending the anti-apartheid movement and building international human-rights law.
Navanethem “Navi” Pillay has won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the award in Oslo on Friday morning.
Pillay, 85, is a South African jurist. She served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014 and as a judge on the International Criminal Court.
The committee said the prize goes “to a person who with exceptional courage and integrity has led the way towards a more comprehensive global legal order.” Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes said she was instrumental in making sure war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.
Pillay began her career in apartheid-era South Africa. She defended Nelson Mandela and his allies in the African National Congress. In 1967 she became the first woman to open a law practice in Natal Province. She won legal representation for political prisoners held at Robben Island.
She later became the first non-white woman to serve as a judge on South Africa’s High Court. She presided over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and sat on the International Criminal Court.
Most recently she chaired the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The commission found that Israel committed genocide in Gaza in its war with Hamas. Israel and the United States rejected the finding.
She currently serves as an ad hoc judge on the International Court of Justice in the case accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya.
The choice comes amid open friction with Washington. The Trump administration sanctioned the ICC last year over its pursuit of Israeli officials. Trump has said he deserves the prize for his role in ending conflicts around the world.
The award carries 12 million Swedish kronor, about $1.2 million. There were 287 nominations. This year’s prize marks 125 years since the first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901.
Frydnes told reporters the committee had not reached Pillay by phone before the announcement. “My message to her would be if you see a Norwegian number calling, please pick up,” he said.
