Nada Papo was born on 4 March 1959 in Kakanj. She completed her primary and secondary education in Sarajevo, graduated from the School of Law, University of Sarajevo, on 16 April 1984, and passed her bar exam also in Sarajevo on 12 September 1989. Before the war she worked at the Intermunicipal Public Attorney’s Office  in Sarajevo. From 2 August 1999 to 1 February 2013 she worked at the Municipal Court in Sarajevo, Civil Procedure Department. She took office at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 1 February 2013, having been appointed judge of the Court on 12 December 2012.