South African jurist Navi Pillay wins 2026 Nobel Peace Prize
South African jurist Navi Pillay, a former UN human rights chief and International Criminal Court judge, was awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee called her “efforts to promote peace and international law.”
The committee said Pillay, 85, helped advance a more comprehensive global legal order and was instrumental in efforts to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Her career has included defending anti-apartheid activists, serving on the UN tribunal for the Rwandan genocide and leading a UN commission investigating alleged violations in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Reacting at Nuremberg’s Palace of Justice, Pillay initially said the news “must be a joke.” She dedicated the award to survivors of international crimes and practitioners of international justice. After applause from those gathered, she …