Former ICC Judge Who Reported Israel Committed Genocide in Palestine Wins 2026 Nobel Peace Prize
Former ICC judge Navi Pillay has won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote peace and international law.
The Nobel Committee said the award to Pillay, 85, highlights the importance of maintaining an organised international order. Pillay has served on several international courts, including the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
The committee said the global system of international law is under severe pressure and its institutions are facing attacks. It warned against the growing shift towards power politics at the expense of legal frameworks and respect for law and justice.
The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Navanethem Pillay. pic.twitter.com/vHXoFjGujn
— Pop Base (@PopBase) October 9, 2026
Pillay also chaired the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which concluded last year that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Israel had rejected the report as scandalous and false.
Pillay received news of the award while attending a legal conference in Nuremberg, Germany, where the first international criminal tribunal was established after World War Two.
The Nobel Committee said Pillay’s long career reflected a firm moral compass and noted her work holding state and national leaders accountable while supporting victims of violence and conflict.
Born in Durban in South Africa’s Natal province to a family of Indian Tamil origin, Pillay served as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014.
She became the first woman to start a law practice in Natal in 1967 and the first non-white woman to serve on South Africa’s High Court.
Pillay is the fifth South African national to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
The award was welcomed by the International Criminal Court, while the Nobel Committee said the recognition comes at a time when the international legal order is facing deep challenges.
The Nobel Peace Prize is worth 12 million Swedish crowns and will be presented in Oslo on December 10.
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