South African jurist of Indian origin Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize

South African jurist of Indian origin Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, whose judicial work helped establish landmark principles in international criminal law, won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her efforts to promote peace and strengthen international law.

The 85-year-old former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights dedicated the award to survivors of international crimes and those working to uphold international justice, warning that human rights and international law were facing mounting political pressure.

“We are living through an era when international law and human rights are under significant political attack,” Pillay said, referring in particular to efforts targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Pillay learnt of the award while attending a forum in Nuremberg, Germany, where Nazi leaders were tried after World War II. She said it was fitting that the announcement came while she was in Courtroom 600, where the trials were held.

“They risk returning us to a world in which power rather than law determines whose suffering matters,” she said, cautioning that attempts to weaken international criminal justice could reverse progress made since the Nuremberg trials.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognised Pillay’s role in advancing international law and ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted. It described her as a person who, with exceptional courage and integrity, had helped lead the way towards a more comprehensive legal order.

Pillay said political leaders had a legal obligation to protect human rights and refrain from war, urging countries to honour the principles of the UN Charter and their commitments under international law.

“My message to leaders, political leaders, is that you are under legal obligation,” she said. “No matter what other obligation you have morally, you have a legal obligation to protect human rights and refrain from war.”

One of her most consequential contributions came through her work at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where she served as a judge from 1995 to 2003 and presided over the tribunal from 1999 to 2003.

Pillay was among the judges in the landmark case against Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of Taba commune who was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and direct and public incitement to commit genocide.

The tribunal’s 1998 judgment recognised that rape and sexual violence could constitute acts of genocide when committed with the specific intent required under the Genocide Convention. It also recognised rape as a crime against humanity in the circumstances established in the case.

The ruling became an important precedent in international criminal law, helping establish that sexual violence during conflict could be prosecuted as a serious international crime rather than treated as an incidental consequence of war.

Speaking after the Nobel announcement, Pillay said she was proud of the tribunal’s recognition of sexual violence as an international crime. She criticised the historical treatment of such violence against women and children as “collateral damage or as reward for the hard fighting soldiers”.

The Nobel Committee highlighted her contribution to the legal development concerning sexual violence, as well as her efforts to ensure that perpetrators of grave international crimes could be held accountable.

Pillay later served as a judge at the International Criminal Court from 2003 to 2008, including on its Appeals Chamber, and as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014.

One of her more recent roles was chairing the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In September 2025, the commission concluded that Israeli authorities and security forces had committed and were continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. It also concluded that Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had incited genocide. Israel rejected the findings. The commission’s conclusions were those of an investigative body, not a final ruling by an international court.

Pillay referred to the Gaza report after the Nobel announcement, describing it as her most recent work and saying it had identified what was happening there as genocide.

She is also serving as a judge in proceedings at the International Court of Justice in which The Gambia has accused Myanmar of violating the Genocide Convention. The Gambia selected her to sit in the case.

Born in Durban on September 23, 1941, to parents of Tamil descent, Pillay grew up in a poor family under apartheid. Her father worked as a bus driver and took on multiple jobs to support the family, while her mother cared for their eight children, according to a biographical profile published by the Institute for African Women in Law.

Despite financial hardship, her parents placed a strong emphasis on education and insisted that their daughters, like their sons, should be educated.

Pillay studied at the University of Natal, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963 and a law degree in 1965. She later pursued postgraduate legal studies at Harvard University, earning a doctorate in juridical science in 1988.

In 1967, she became the first woman of colour to establish a law practice in South Africa’s Natal Province, according to the Institute for African Women in Law. She spent decades defending anti-apartheid activists and political detainees, including leaders such as Nelson Mandela, while highlighting torture and solitary confinement.

In 1973, she helped secure political prisoners’ right to legal counsel. Her experiences also exposed racial barriers in the country’s legal system: a Harvard Law School profile noted that, as a lawyer, she had not been allowed to enter a judge’s chambers.

Pillay subsequently contributed to efforts to enshrine equality in South Africa’s Constitution. As a member of the Women’s National Coalition, she participated in a campaign that helped secure a constitutional equality clause prohibiting discrimination. She has also spoken about how women from different political, racial and religious backgrounds worked together to advance equality and protect women’s rights.

In 1995, a year after South Africa’s first democratic elections, Pillay became the first woman of colour to serve as an acting judge on the country’s High Court. That same year, she was elected to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, established to prosecute those responsible for genocide and other serious crimes committed during the 1994 genocide.

She also co-founded Equality Now in 1992 with Jessica Neuwirth and Feryal Gharahi. The international women’s rights organisation works to advance women’s rights and challenge discriminatory laws and practices.

The Nobel Committee said Pillay’s commitment to universal legal principles had helped hold states and national leaders accountable while offering hope to victims of violence and conflict. It stressed that peace required justice and that accountability for war crimes and other abuses was a precondition for a peaceful world.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated Pillay on behalf of the nation, describing the award as a tribute to her courage, integrity and lifelong commitment to justice.

“Justice Pillay’s crowning as winner of the Nobel Prize allows us to celebrate the progressive contributions she has made to strengthen peace, uphold human dignity and bring hope in South Africa and to peoples globally,” Ramaphosa said in a statement issued by his office.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also congratulated Pillay, praising her lifelong commitment to justice, peace and human dignity.

“Few have devoted their lives to justice, peace and human dignity like she did,” von der Leyen said in a post on X, referring to Pillay’s work on apartheid in South Africa and the Rwandan genocide.

The Nobel Peace Prize was first awarded in 1901. The 2026 award marks its 125th anniversary.