Updated Oct. 9, 2026, 6:46 a.m. ET
Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, a South African lawyer who defended the anti-apartheid movement, investigated crimes of genocide and promoted international human rights law, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Oct. 9.
Pillay previously served as a judge on the International Criminal Court and was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. She is currently a judge on the International Court of Justice in a case that accuses Myanmar of genocide.Recently, she chaired the U.N.’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The commission determined that Israel committed genocide in Gaza in its war against Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
“The Norwegian Nobel Committee wants to remind the world that the rule of law – national and international – underpins the system we have set up to ensure peace and resolve conflicts non-violently,” said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, the committee’s chair.
Pillay’s win means that U.S. President Donald Trump has once again been denied a prize that he has long coveted.
Trump has long griped about not receiving the prize. He claims to be deserving for his efforts to end a number of conflicts around the world.
Pillay was attending an annual conference of human rights lawyers in Nuremberg, Germany when news broke that she was named the recipient of the prize. Pillay received a long ovation from her colleagues that was punctuated with shouts of “Bravo!”
“If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump,” she said when the applause finally died down, eliciting laughs from the gathered crowd.
“At this venue, your applause means a great deal to me,” Pillay added, addressing her colleagues at the conference. “You don’t want to receive an award, prize or anything unless the public agrees that you deserve this.”
The Nobel Committee’s decision to recognize an international jurist serves as a not-so-subtle rebuke of the Trump administration, which imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court last year over its decision to accuse Israel of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during its war in Gaza.
The ICC issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
“The system of international law is under tremendous pressure and its institutions are under attack,” Frydnes said. “We see a shift towards power politics at the expense of legal frameworks and global respect for law and justice.”
Last year’s prize went to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who built a movement that challenged the country’s authoritarian government.
Machado presented her award to Trump after a U.S. military operation in January that captured and ousted Nicolás Maduro, the country’s longtime leader. Maduro was brought to the United States where he is facing torture and drug trafficking charges.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute has said that the prize is non-transferable.
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