Former ICC judge Navi Pillay wins 2026 Nobel Peace Prize
Former ICC judge Navi Pillay has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her contributions to international law and human rights. The committee highlighted her career-long commitment to justice, including her work on the UN commission investigating the conflict in Gaza.
Why it matters
The award underscores the global importance of international legal institutions at a time when they face significant political pressure and criticism from major world powers.
Navi Pillay, a former ICC judge who oversaw a UN report that concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday "for her efforts to promote peace and international law".
This year's Nobel Peace Prize underlined the importance of maintaining an organised international order, the committee said in its citation.
"The system of international law is under tremendous pressure, and its institutions are under attack," it said.
"We see a shift towards power politics at the expense of legal frameworks and global respect for law and justice. Whenever might overtakes right, it undermines stability, trust and peaceful co-existence."
Born in Durban, in South Africa's Natal province, in a family of Indian Tamil origin, Navi Pillay, 85, has been a judge on several international courts, including the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
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