Norwegian committee awards Pillay the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to South African jurist Navanethem "Navi" Pillay on 9 October 2026 in Oslo, the committee's chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes announced. The prize recognises her efforts to promote peace and international law. Pillay, 85, is a judge on the International Criminal Court and a former United Nations human rights chief.cbsnews.com

The award matters because the committee tied it explicitly to the standing of international courts at a moment when wars and conflicts are rising. In its news release, the committee wrote that judges and institutions of international law are under political attack, and that resolving conflicts without force depends on the international rule of law. The prize is the fifth Nobel announced this week, after literature, chemistry, physics and medicine.

What the citation says

The committee's citation connects Pillay's early work defending Nelson Mandela and others who opposed apartheid with her later judging in major international tribunal cases. Pillay was the first non-white woman to serve on South Africa's Supreme Court, and she went on to sit as a judge on the International Criminal Court and to preside over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.france24.com

The committee received nominations for 287 candidates for this year's prize, just over a quarter of them organisations, according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Nominations come from a select group including heads of state, national-level politicians, university professors, directors of foreign policy institutes, past laureates and committee members themselves. The list of nominees stays secret for 50 years.

Where the numbers came from

The prize carries 12 million Swedish kronor, about $1.2 million, whether it goes to an individual, a small group or an organisation. This year marks the 125th anniversary of the peace prize, which since 1901 has gone to 112 individuals and 28 separate institutions. Just 20 of the 112 individual laureates have been women, eight of them in the past 15 years.japantimes.co.jp

The prize has gone unawarded on 19 occasions, most of them during the world wars. In 1948, the year Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, no prize was awarded; he had been nominated 12 times and never won. The United States leads with 24 awards naming US institutions or individuals, ahead of the United Kingdom with 13 and Switzerland with 11.

What happens next

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the 2025 prize for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition. She gave her Nobel medal to US President Donald Trump shortly after the United States ousted Nicolás Maduro, but the committee has said the honour itself cannot be transferred. The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, the last of this year's awards, is due to be announced on Monday. The Peace Prize is the only Nobel awarded in Oslo by the Norwegian Nobel Committee; the other categories are announced in Stockholm.