Albie Sachs, a former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, became the first winner of the Tang Prize in Rule of Law on Saturday.
He was given the prize by the Tang Prize Foundation for "his many contributions to human rights and justice globally through an understanding of the rule of law in which the dignity of all persons is respected and the strengths and values of all communities are embraced" and for "his efforts in the realization of the rule of law."
Earlier this week, former Prime Minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland was named the winner of the prize in sustainable development; James P. Allison of the United States and Tasuku Honjo from Japan shared the prize in biopharmaceutical science; and Chinese American Yu Ying-shih won the prize in sinology.
Established in 2012 by Samuel Yin, an entrepreneur from Taiwan, the Tang Prize honors leaders in four fields: sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, sinology and rule of law.
The biennial prize gives 50 million new Taiwan dollars (1.67 million U.S. dollars) for each field, the highest sum for an academic award. 2014 is the first year to give prize.
Laureates are selected by a panel of judges mainly convened by the island's top research institute as well as experts outside the island.
From June 18, winners of Tang Prize in the four field was announced each day, and the awarding ceremony will be held on Sept. 18 in Taipei.