Peter Wallensteen comments on 2026 Nobel Peace Prize

The South African judge Navi Pillay (b. 1941) has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 – for her personal commitment to ”universal legal principles and her firm moral compass” that have been ”constants in a long career”, according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which hands out the Nobel Peace Prize.

Navi Pillay was the first woman in her home province, Natal, South Africa, to open a law firm, and she was involved in defending opponents of the apartheid regime (including protection for those imprisoned on Robben Island). In 1998, she was appointed as a judge to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where she convinced the tribunal to regard rape as a form of genocide. In 2003, she became a judge in the International Criminal Court, followed by being appointed the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

This prize definitely makes a strong statement by the Nobel Committee in favour of international law and the importance of prosecuting war crimes. Pillay stresses the necessity of using law to eliminate discrimination, control warfare and ultimately abolish war. Thus, this prize corresponds to Alfred Nobel’s will to promote fraternity among nations. In Pillay’s case, this is done by regulating relations among states and citizens through agreed norms and rules in our global society. It also means a strong repudiation of the idea that “Might is Right”. This is a timely prize, providing hope in difficult circumstances.

-Professor Peter Wallensteen