The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to South African jurist of Indian origin Navanethem ‘Navi’ Pillay, recognising her contributions to peace and international law.

Born in 1941 into a family of Indian Tamil origin in Durban, South Africa, Pillay built her career challenging racial discrimination, segregation and exclusion under apartheid. Her work defending anti-apartheid activists, including Nelson Mandela and others who opposed the regime, laid the foundation for a career spanning some of the most significant cases in international law.

Pillay broke barriers early in her career, becoming the first woman to establish a law practice in Natal, her home province, in 1967. As a defence lawyer, she represented anti-apartheid activists, exposed torture and helped secure important rights for prisoners held on Robben Island.

Following that, she was appointed an acting judge of the South African High Court in 1995. The same year, she was elected by the United Nations General Assembly to serve on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). She spent eight years at the tribunal, including four as its president from 1999 to 2003.

During her tenure, Pillay played a key role in developing landmark legal principles recognising rape as an act of genocide. She also contributed to the tribunal’s work on freedom of speech and hate propaganda.

In 2003, she joined the International Criminal Court in The Hague, serving on its Appeals Chamber until August 2008. Her judicial career also includes service on South Africa’s High Court and the International Court of Justice.

Pillay served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. Until recently, she chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. She is currently a judge at the International Court of Justice in the case in which Myanmar faces accusations of genocide.

Beyond the courtroom, Pillay has played an active role in advancing human rights and gender equality. As a member of South Africa’s Women’s National Coalition, she contributed to efforts to incorporate an equality clause into the country’s Constitution, prohibiting discrimination on grounds including race, gender, religion and sexual orientation.

She also co-founded Equality Now, an international women’s rights organisation, and has worked with groups addressing the rights of children and detainees, torture and domestic violence, as well as economic, social and cultural rights.

Pillay studied at the University of Natal in South Africa, earning a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws. She later obtained a Master of Laws and a Doctorate of Juridical Science from Harvard University.

Last year, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado received the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote democratic rights and pursue a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.