Hilmo Vučinić was born in 1962. He completed his elementary and secondary school in Goražde. He graduated from the Law School in Sarajevo in 1985. Having graduated from the law school, he performed the duties of a graduate lawyer in the economic department in Goražde Municipality, as well as the duties of Director of the Social Welfare Center of Goražde Municipality.

He was appointed judge of the District Military Court in Goražde in late 1993. Having passed the bar in 1996, he was appointed judge of the Cantonal Court of Goražde. In the same period he performed the duties of president of the municipal election commission in Goražde as well as president of the Commission for Constitutional Issues of the Assembly of the Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde.

In late 2003, he was appointed judge of the Cantonal Court of Sarajevo, and on 1 March 2005 he was appointed judge of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). He is currently performing the duties of president of the Appellate Division of the Court of BiH.

Judge Vučinić gives lectures to judges and prosecutors on behalf of the Center for Education of Judges and Prosecutors of the Federation of BiH. Furthermore, the US Embassy in Sarajevo called upon Judge Vučinić on several occasions to appear as a lecturer in projects involving education of judges and prosecutors in BiH in the fields of processing of war crimes cases as well as organized crime and corruption cases. Judge Vučinić took part in several study trips and visits to countries with various legal systems with a view to exchanging experiences in judicial organization and functioning of particular fields of criminal law. To wit, he visited France, Spain, Portugal, the USA; Sweden, Turkey and Colombia and gave lectures there on the experiences of the Court of BiH in processing of war crimes cases.

Judge Vučinić visited the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg on several occasions in order to become acquainted with the practice and views of the ECtHR in applying the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. He also participated in a number of seminars and conferences in BiH as well as the Balkans area on the topic of application of practice and standards of the ECtHR before national courts.

Judge Vučinić is an active participant in the project of transfer of knowledge and experiences of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the field of processing of war crimes cases and, in that respect, he has participated in many international conferences at which he gave talks on the legacy of the ICTY and the influence of ICTY’s case law in processing war crimes cases by national courts.

When the structured dialogue on the judiciary in BiH between the European Union and BiH began, judge Vučinić was actively involved in the work for a while as a representative of the Court of BiH. In addition, judge Vučinić actively participates in the work of criminal panels at the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH with a view to harmonizing the case law in BiH.