Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize
Born into a family of Indian Tamil origin under apartheid in Durban, South Africa, Navanethem Pillay became a lawyer and legal pioneer, confronting deep structural discrimination, segregation and exclusion, says the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Navanethem "Navi" Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday (9 October) "for her efforts to promote peace and international law," the Norwegian Nobel Committee has said.
The peace prize is the fifth Nobel awarded this week, after literature, chemistry, physics and medicine. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won in 2025.
The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 12 million Swedish crowns or about $1.2 million, is due to be presented in Oslo on 10 December, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will, reports Reuters.
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The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 goes to a person who, with exceptional courage and integrity, has led the way towards a more comprehensive global legal order. "This year's laureate has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted."
"Pillay's commitment to universal legal principles and her firm moral compass are constants in a long career. Born into a family of Indian Tamil origin under apartheid in Durban, South Africa, Pillay became a lawyer and legal pioneer, confronting deep structural discrimination, segregation and exclusion.
"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."
This year's laureate has significantly enlarged the scope and impact of international law, the Committee said.
"She has served as a judge on the High Court in South Africa, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court. She was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and, until recently, she chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Today Navi Pillay is a judge on the International Court of Justice in the case where Myanmar stands accused of genocide."
"Navi Pillay is one of the great defenders of international legal principles in our time. Her distinguished career reminds us of the need to support, fortify and expand the global rule of law. Navi Pillay's commitment to justice and human dignity is a source of hope and inspiration to all who seek to bring about a more peaceful world," the panel added.
