South African jurist Navi Pillay has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her contributions to peace and international law. The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced her name at 3pm Bangladesh time on Friday.
The official Nobel Prize website said Pillay’s long career has been defined by her steadfast belief in universal legal principles and her strong moral stance. Early in her career, she took part in legal battles on behalf of Nelson Mandela and others who opposed apartheid rule in South Africa.
The Nobel Committee said Pillay had helped hold states and political leaders accountable while offering hope to people affected by violence and conflict. Throughout her various roles, she emphasised the responsibility of individuals and states to uphold the rule of law.
Navanethem Pillay, widely known as Navi Pillay, is regarded as a prominent figure in the history of international justice and human rights protection. Born in 1941 into a family of Tamil descent in Durban, South Africa, she completed her law degree at the University of Natal before earning postgraduate and doctoral degrees from Harvard Law School in the United States.
Pillay was the first South African woman to receive a doctorate from Harvard Law School. After returning to South Africa, she established her own legal practice in 1967 as the first non-white woman to do so in Natal Province.
Pillay spoke out against South Africa’s apartheid system both in the streets and in the courts. Her legal representation of Mandela and many other anti-apartheid activists during that period brought her national and international recognition.
In 1995, the United Nations appointed Pillay as a judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She later served as its president from 1999 to 2003.
During her tenure as a judge, Pillay delivered a landmark ruling in a Rwanda genocide case that recognised wartime sexual violence and rape as elements of genocide for the first time in the history of international law. She was elected as a judge of the International Criminal Court in The Hague in 2003.
Pillay served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. During that period, she took firm positions against war crimes, restrictions on freedom of expression and violations of minority rights in conflict-hit regions, including Syria and Sri Lanka.
Pillay’s career, spanning the anti-apartheid movement and senior positions in international courts, has been described as an example of commitment to women’s empowerment, social justice and universal humanitarian values.
Last year, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado for her efforts to establish democratic rights in Venezuela and to pursue a just and peaceful transition from authoritarianism to democracy.