Nobel Peace Prize goes to Navanethem Pillay for promoting peace, international law

LONDON -- The Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 was awarded Friday to Navanethem Pillay "for her efforts to promote peace and international law."

Calling her a person "with exceptional courage and integrity" and somebody who "has led the way towards a more comprehensive global legal order," the Nobel Institute said that Pillay "has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted."

"Navi Pillay’s commitment to universal legal principles and her firm moral compass are constants in a long career," the Nobel Institute said. "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."

The announcement was made by the chair of The Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway.