South African jurist Navi Pillay wins 2026 Nobel Peace Prize

South African jurist and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, has won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting peace and international law.

According to TIME, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the award on Friday.

“Pillay’s commitment to universal legal principles and her firm moral compass are constants in a long career,” committee chairman Jørgen Watne Frydnes said.

Born into an Indian Tamil family in apartheid-era Durban, Pillay built a career confronting discrimination and later served in major international judicial and human-rights roles.

“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,” Frydnes said.

Pillay, 85, is currently serving as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice in proceedings accusing Myanmar of genocide.

Frydnes described her as “one of the great defenders of international legal principles in our time.”