Peace · Oct 9, 2026
Navi Pillay
“for her efforts to promote peace and international law”
- Born
- Durban, South Africa, 1941
- Age at award
- 85
- Affiliation at award
- None listed
Key work
The Rwanda tribunal's Akayesu judgment, 1998: rape and sexual violence can constitute genocide
Sources1nobelprize.org
Career
- 1967Founds her own law firm in Durban and defends activists against apartheid
- 1988Doctor of Juridical Science, Harvard
- 1995Appointed to the High Court of South Africa
- 1990sJudge, then President, of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
- 1998Plays a pioneering role in the Akayesu judgment
- 2008–14UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- 2019Ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice in the Myanmar genocide case
- 2021–25Chairs the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory
Lesser-known facts
- Grew up in a family of Indian Tamil descent in Durban.
- The Akayesu judgment helped establish that rape and sexual violence can be prosecuted as genocide.
- The committee called her “one of the most respected international jurists of our time.”
Mentors and collaborators
- Early mentor
- N. T. Naicker, criminal defence attorney
- Nominated by
- Nelson Mandela and Justice Minister Dullah Omar, for the Rwanda tribunal
- Appointed by
- Ban Ki-moon, as UN human rights chief
