The central event marking 9 January as the Day of Republika Srpska will be held in Banja Luka today, even though the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in its rulings from 2015 and 2019, declared that date unconstitutional.
High Representative Christian Schmidt reiterated yesterday that the celebration of the Day of Republika Srpska is a criminal offense, while the United States of America announced that it expects law enforcement and judicial authorities to take swift and decisive measures to investigate any violation of the law in connection with the celebration of 9 January.
The ceremonial parade will be held at Krajina Square in Banja Luka.
Rulings of the Constitutional Court of BiH
On 26 November 2015, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the highest judicial institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, found that 9 January, as the Day of Republika Srpska, is unconstitutional, following an appeal by the then member of the Presidency of BiH, Bakir Izetbegović.
The court ruled that January 9th was a date, not the celebration of Republika Srpska Day as a holiday.
The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not deny the right of believers to celebrate the feast of Saint Stephen, nor the day of Republika Srpska, but it determined that the Day of Republika Srpska could not be January 9th.
On September 25, 2016, the Referendum Commission conducted a referendum on January 9th, although the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina had banned its holding. The court then annulled the results of the citizens’ vote.
Soon after, the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NARS) removed the Law on Republika Srpska Day from the Law on Holidays and adopted it as a separate secular holiday. A request for a review of the constitutionality of that law was filed by nine delegates, Bosniaks and Croats, in the Council of Peoples of Republika Srpska.
On March 29, 2019, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina again declared January 9 unconstitutional, i.e. annulled a part of the article of the Law on the Day of Republika Srpska that reads “based on the confirmed will of the citizens of Republika Srpska, January 9 is established as the Day of the Republic”.
The contested provision, which reads:
“‘Based on the confirmed will of the citizens of Republika Srpska, January 9 is established as the Day of the Republic’, is not in accordance with Article I/2 of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Article II/4 of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina in conjunction with Article 1.1 and Article 2.a) and c) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and Article VI/5 of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The contested provision is repealed and is ordered to cease to be valid on the day following the date of publication of the decision in the Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
The decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina was preceded by the position of the Venice Commission, which labeled the Day of Republika Srpska as “discriminatory, because it is not in line with the universal values of dialogue, tolerance and understanding”.
As stated, “it is based on historical events that are significant and important for only one people in Republika Srpska, namely the Serbian people”.
OHR and US: Celebrating January 9 is a criminal offense
The High Representative of the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schmidt, said that the celebration of January 9 as the Day of Republika Srpska is a clear and direct failure to implement the final and binding decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the decision of the High Representative of 1 July 2023.
He warned that disrespect for the decisions of the Constitutional Court constitutes a criminal offense under the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Schmidt stated that it is up to law enforcement agencies, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the police, to take appropriate next steps prescribed by law, especially in cases related to public officials and civil servants and their participation in the preparation or organization of the celebration of January 9.
The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina stressed that the official sponsorship and support of the Government of Republika Srpska for the celebration of RS Day on 9 January is discriminatory and unconstitutional, as it directly violates the constitutions of both BiH and RS. They called on the RS Government to fully respect the rule of law.
The United States stated that it expects relevant law enforcement and judicial institutions to investigate any case of violation of the law related to the celebration of 9 January.
As a reminder, on 9 January 1992 in Sarajevo, the then Assembly of the Serbian People in Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the “Declaration on the Proclamation of the Republic of the Serbian People of Bosnia and Herzegovina” – in the territories of “Serbian autonomous regions and areas and other Serbian ethnic entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and on the basis of the plebiscite held on 9 and 10 November 1991, in which the Serbian people declared their support for remaining in the common state of Yugoslavia”.
The first leadership consisted of Radovan Karadžić, Biljana Plavšić and Momčilo Krajišnik, later convicted by the Hague Tribunal for war crimes, BHRT writes.
