GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General
09 October 2026
GOOD congratulates Judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay on being awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize “for her efforts to promote peace and international law.”
Judge Pillay is the fifth South African to receive the prize, joining Chief Albert Luthuli, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk.
Her career has taken her from apartheid-era courtrooms in Durban to presiding over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, serving as a judge of the International Criminal Court, and leading the UN as High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognised her role in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.
Her award is a reminder that South Africa’s greatest gift to the world has been the idea that justice is universal – it belongs to everyone, and no one is above it.
On a personal note, I had the privilege of being taught by Navi Pillay while studying for my LL.B at the University of Natal, now the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Her course on Race Legislation, and the human rights lens through which she taught it, profoundly shaped how I understand the legacy crises we still live with, and the right of every South African to justice. Those lessons have stayed with me throughout my public life.
Judge Pillay showed us that the law can be an instrument of oppression or of liberation, depending on who holds it to account. Today the world has recognised what her students learned long ago.
We congratulate her with deep pride and gratitude.
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