Oslo: As a student at the University of Natal in apartheid-era South Africa, Navi Pillay came across transcripts of the Nuremberg trials, in which Nazi leaders were prosecuted for war crimes.
Reading the transcripts captivated her with the ideal of justice represented by countries coming together to hold individuals accountable for grave crimes.
Pillay later went on to defend opponents of apartheid, serve as a judge in international criminal tribunals and help shape international law on genocide and sexual violence.
Now 85, the South African jurist of Indian origin has won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting peace and international law.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee highlighted her role in strengthening the principle that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide must be prosecuted, even when those accused hold power.
Born in Durban September 23, 1941, Navanethem “Navi” Pillay grew up in a poor family under apartheid, a system that institutionalised racial segregation and discrimination.
Her father worked as a bus driver and took on other jobs to support the family, while her mother raised their children.
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“We grew up very poor,” Pillay said in a UN interview in 2025, recalling how her family struggled alongside other disadvantaged communities. She has also spoken about the importance her parents placed on education, insisting that their daughters should receive the same opportunities as their sons.
Pillay studied at the University of Natal, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963 and a law degree in 1965. She later earned postgraduate law degrees at Harvard University, including a doctorate in juridical science in 1988.
In 1967, she became the first woman to open a law practice in Natal Province, according to the International Criminal Court. As a lawyer, she represented opponents of apartheid and drew attention to abuses against political detainees. Her work included challenging the use of torture and solitary confinement and helping secure political prisoners’ right to legal counsel.
Her career unfolded against a system that restricted the professional opportunities available to people classified as non-white.
A Harvard Law School profile noted that, during her years as a lawyer, she had not been allowed to enter a judge’s chambers.
In 1995, after apartheid ended, she became the first coloured woman to serve as an acting judge on South Africa’s High Court. That same year, the United Nations General Assembly elected her to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, established to prosecute those responsible for genocide and other serious crimes committed during the 1994 genocide.
Pillay served on the tribunal until 2003 and was its president from 1999 to 2003.
One of the most consequential cases in which she participated was the trial of Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of Taba commune in Rwanda. The tribunal convicted him of genocide, crimes against humanity and direct and public incitement to commit genocide.
The 1998 judgment was a landmark in international criminal law. It recognised that rape and sexual violence could constitute acts of genocide when committed with the specific intent to destroy a protected group, and could also amount to crimes against humanity.
Pillay was one of three judges who signed the judgment and was credited with helping shape its reasoning. The ruling helped bring sexual violence, long overlooked in the prosecution of wartime atrocities, into the centre of international criminal law.
The tribunal also delivered landmark judgments on the responsibility of political and media figures for their roles in inciting genocide.
Pillay became a judge at the International Criminal Court in 2003 and served until 2008. That year, she became the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a position she held until 2014.
Pillay is also serving as a judge in the International Court of Justice case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar, having been selected by The Gambia to sit in proceedings concerning alleged violations of the Genocide Convention.
Announcing the Nobel award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Pillay’s commitment to universal legal principles and her efforts to hold states and national leaders accountable.
“Peace requires justice,” the committee said, adding that the rule of law was essential to resolving conflicts without violence, particularly at a time when international legal institutions face political pressure.
From reading the Nuremberg trial transcripts as a student to sitting on international courts, Pillay’s career has centred on the principle that those responsible for grave abuses must be answerable for their actions, regardless of their position or power.
