Navi Pillay, a former judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC), has won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote peace and international law.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the award on Friday, citing the importance of preserving an organised international order amid growing pressure on legal institutions.
“The system of international law is under tremendous pressure, and its institutions are under attack,” the committee said.
It added that the growing preference for power politics over legal frameworks and respect for justice threatened stability, trust and peaceful coexistence.
Pillay, 85, was born in Durban, South Africa, to a family of Indian Tamil origin. She has served as a judge on several international courts, including the ICC and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
She also chaired the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which concluded in a report last year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Israel rejected the report as “scandalous”.
Pillay previously served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
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In 1967, she became the first woman to establish a law practice in South Africa’s Natal province and the first non-white woman to serve on the country’s High Court.
The Nobel Committee said Pillay had held states and national leaders accountable, offered hope to victims of violence and conflict, and demonstrated a strong moral compass throughout her career.
It highlighted the link between her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who opposed apartheid and her subsequent role in landmark international court cases.
The award comes amid mounting pressure on the ICC from United States President Donald Trump, who urged countries last month to withdraw from the court.
Washington has imposed targeted sanctions on several ICC prosecutors and judges and is reportedly considering broader measures in response to the court’s actions against Israeli leaders.
However, Haakon Gjerloew, acting director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, said the award should not be interpreted as a direct criticism of Trump.
He said it was primarily an endorsement of an international legal order, although Pillay’s association with the ICC could prompt a reaction from the US president.
The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize is the fifth Nobel award announced this week, following the prizes for literature, chemistry, physics and medicine.
The award carries a monetary prize of 12 million Swedish crowns, equivalent to about 1.2 million dollars, and is scheduled to be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who established the awards in his will.
