The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Navanethem (Navi) Pillay, a lawyer from the Republic of South Africa, has become the laureate of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote peace and international law. Throughout her professional career, she has participated in the development of international justice, served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and headed the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Pillay was born on September 23, 1941, in Durban, South Africa, into a family of Indian Tamil descent. In 1967, she opened her own law firm and defended activists who opposed apartheid, the system of racial segregation that was in place in the country.

In 1995, Pillay was appointed as a judge of the High Court of South Africa, and four years later, she became a judge and president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. While working at the tribunal, she contributed to the formation of judicial practice that recognizes sexual violence and rape as possible grounds for charges of crimes against humanity and genocide.

From 2008 to 2014, Pillay served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In 2019, she became an ad hoc judge of the UN International Court of Justice in the case accusing Myanmar of genocide. From 2021 to 2025, the lawyer headed the independent international UN commission of inquiry into the events in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The Nobel Committee noted Pillay's contribution to the development of the international legal order, her integrity, and her courage. The committee emphasized that against the backdrop of a growing number of wars and conflicts, international law plays an important role in resolving disputes without the use of force, and holding those guilty of war crimes accountable is necessary to protect victims and maintain peace.

The day before, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the Canadian writer Anne Carson. The award was presented to her for works in which she creatively reimagines the classical tradition and creates new forms of contemporary literature.

The next announcement will be the laureate of the prize in economic sciences, which is scheduled for October 12, 2026.