On 21 March 2025, the Public Institution Center for Socio-Political Research of Republika Srpska (JU CDPI RS) organized a one-day scientific conference titled “Dayton Peace Agreement – 30 Years of Peace and Stability” at the premises of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska in Banja Luka.
The conference was held to mark the 30th anniversary of the signing of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It comes in the light of current developments and the ongoing struggle to preserve the international and constitutional position of Republika Srpska and the Serb constituent people, a struggle that has defined the past decades and has taken on particular significance in the current year.
The event gathered prominent professors from state universities in Serbia, Montenegro, and Republika Srpska, as well as legal scholars specializing in constitutional and international law. Their presentations provided a deeper understanding of the complex legal and political situation, which is increasingly taking the form of an international and constitutional “Gordian knot” in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Distinguished professors from universities in Belgrade, Podgorica, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, East Sarajevo, and Banja Luka shared their insights, alongside numerous other legal experts and scholars of the Dayton Peace Agreement. The conference was also attended by and featured addresses from the President of Republika Srpska, the President of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, and ministers Željko Budimir and Siniša Karan.
“In accordance with its mandate, JU CDPI RS organized this academic gathering to publicly and academically reflect on the greatest legal precedent in post-conflict Europe – the systemic dismantling of the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA), international law, and the legal order established by UN Security Council resolutions. What was signed in Dayton in 1995 as a compromise for peace and stability is now being brutally violated through usurpation of powers, political repression, and the abuse of the judiciary aimed at forcibly transforming Bosnia and Herzegovina, contrary to its constitutional and international legal foundations. The key problem is not only the unlawful actions of Christian Schmidt, who has not been accepted or appointed by the UN Security Council, but also the abuse of judicial institutions in BiH, which have become instruments for criminalizing respect for the DPA and the constitutional competences of the entities. The Court of BiH, which is not a constitutional category under the Dayton Agreement, has been turned into a tool for political persecution of officials from Republika Srpska who act in accordance with their constitutional and international legal obligations. The judicial and political prosecutions of the President of Republika Srpska, the National Assembly, and the Prime Minister represent an unprecedented act of legal violence – the institutional decisions of a constitutional entity are being declared criminal acts, meaning that it is not just individuals being tried, but Republika Srpska itself is being declared illegal.”
– stated Dušan Pavlović, Director of JU CDPI RS.
The scientific conference was held under the patronage of the President of Republika Srpska.
Source: CDPI RS
