Navanethem “Navi” Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday “for her efforts to promote peace and international law,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.
Pillay held states and national leaders accountable and brought hope to victims of violence and conflict, and demonstrated a firm moral compass in her long career, the committee said.
“A common thread runs from her early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who stood up against apartheid to her service as a judge in some of the key international court cases of our time,” the committee said.
“This year’s laureate has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are prosecuted,” said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo.
The Nobel jury said it was honouring her at a time when “the system of international law is under tremendous pressure and its institutions are under attack”.
“At a time of existential challenges — including more wars and conflicts than the world has seen in a long time — international law is no longer just a supplement to peace and security. It is an absolute necessity,” Watne said.
“Navi Pillay’s commitment to universal legal principles and her firm moral compass are constants in a long career,” the committee said.
Pillay was chair of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory that concluded last year that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. Israel dismissed the report as “scandalous”.
The prize — the ultimate diplomatic and humanitarian accolade — is sure to irk US President Donald Trump, whose administration has repeatedly attacked international justice institutions.
Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has made no secret of his desire to win the prize.
“If you clap a little bit more I may share this prize with Trump,” Pillay said to a standing ovation captured by Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard in Nuremberg and posted on the social network X.
The peace prize is the fifth Nobel awarded this week, after literature, chemistry, physics and medicine. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado won in 2025.
The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 12 million Swedish crowns, or about $1.2m, is due to be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.
Pakistan nominates Trump
Shortly before the announcement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took to X and said Pakistan had nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his role in “advancing peace in South Asia”.
Referring to last year’s brief military conflict with New Delhi, the prime minister said Trump’s “timely intervention helped bring Pakistan and India back from the brink and secure a ceasefire that is holding till today”.
“In recognition of his outstanding contribution, Pakistan had nominated President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize,” he added.
“We sincerely hope the president’s efforts to promote peace and prevent conflict in our region receive due recognition this time,” he said.
Last year, the government had decided to formally recommend Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for his “decisive diplomatic intervention and pivotal leadership” to end the India-Pakistan escalation in May.
In May 2025, a four-day conflict between Pakistan and India was sparked by an attack on tourists in occupied Kashmir, which New Delhi, without evidence, linked with Pakistan. Islamabad strongly denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation.
After New Delhi launched deadly air strikes in Punjab and Azad Kashmir on May 7, Pakistan said it downed five Indian planes in air-to-air combat, later raising the tally to eight. After tit-for-tat strikes on each other’s airbases, it took American intervention on May 10 for both sides to finally reach a ceasefire.
Since then, the US president has praised both PM Shehbaz and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir on several occasions. Most recently, he called PM Shehbaz a “terrific man” during his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last month.
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