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Cvijanović promulgates Republika Srpska law rejecting genocide-denial ban

On 13 October 2021, Željka Cvijanović, then president of Republika Srpska, promulgated legislation saying the entity would not apply a genocide-denial ban imposed at Bosnia's state level by the High Representative. In the causal graph this event strengthens the driver Bosnia and Herzegovina constitutional crisis around Republika Srpska.

Željka Cvijanović (Wikimedia Commons portrait; person avatar reused as fact cover, land-pack1 pattern).

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

On 13 October 2021, Željka Cvijanović, then president of Republika Srpska, promulgated legislation saying the entity would not apply a genocide-denial ban imposed at Bosnia's state level by the High Representative.

The direct act was the promulgation of the entity law. Cvijanović and other Bosnian Serb leaders argued that the High Representative lacked democratic legitimacy to impose criminal law and that Republika Srpska was defending its constitutional competences. The documented harm is narrower: an entity executive used formal authority to direct nonapplication of a state-level rule, reinforcing a pattern in which institutions in one part of Bosnia were encouraged to treat binding state decisions as unenforceable. The fact therefore connects to rule-of-law erosion and the continuing constitutional crisis around Republika Srpska through a formal presidential act.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Željka Cvijanović

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    verified

    Role: Republika Srpska president who promulgated the nonapplication law. Contribution size is permanently_blocked (no sourced fraction); provisional 0.4 stored because contributions.size is NOT NULL.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactCvijanović promulgates Republika Srpska law rejecting genocide-denial ban
    2. strengthensDriverBosnia and Herzegovina constitutional crisis around Republika Srpska

    impact weight 0.69 · verified

    The decree was part of an explicit institutional challenge to state and High Representative authority. Weight basis: law/decree band: the measure deepened the conflict over whether entity institutions could disregard state-level authority. Weight 0.69 is the pack's qualitative severity class for this event, not an empirical coefficient.

    1. FactCvijanović promulgates Republika Srpska law rejecting genocide-denial ban
    2. weakensDriverRule of Law
    3. weakensIndicators (4)Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.63 · verified

    The sourced act is Cvijanović's formal promulgation of the Republika Srpska measure. Weight basis: law/decree band: the presidential decree put an entity law rejecting application of a state-level criminal rule into force. Weight 0.63 is the pack's qualitative severity class for this event, not an empirical coefficient.

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Rule of Law

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.47 (weight 0.63 × strength 0.74)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

    • Access to justice index

      via Rule of Law

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.43 (weight 0.63 × strength 0.68)

      Observed

      0.62 score from 0 to 1 · 0.25 below the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.37 score from 0 to 1 to 0.62 score from 0 to 1.

      Above normal = better

    • WJP Rule of Law Index (global)

      via Rule of Law

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.37 (weight 0.63 × strength 0.58)

      Observed

      0.55 index score (0-1) · 0.26 below the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      Above normal = better

    All indicators on this path (4)

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Cvijanović signs decree on Republika Srpska law rejecting genocide-denial banRFE/RL · verified
  2. 2.Bosnian Serb decree rejecting genocide-denial law sparks uncertaintyBalkan Insight · verified
What the sources establish

RFE/RL reported the decree as part of an escalating institutional confrontation over the authority of the international overseer and the state legal order.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorŽeljka Cvijanović
  2. contributed toFactCvijanović promulgates Republika Srpska law rejecting genocide-denial ban
  3. strengthensDrivers (2)Bosnia and Herzegovina constitutional crisis around Republika Srpska

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Cvijanović promulgates Republika Srpska law rejecting genocide-denial ban. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/ba-cvijanovic-promulgates-genocide-denial-nonapplication-law-2021-10-13

https://factrail.ai/facts/ba-cvijanovic-promulgates-genocide-denial-nonapplication-law-2021-10-13

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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