In order to ensure a planned approach to strategic reforms of the judiciary in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: HJPC BiH), being the lead institution in the judicial sector, undertook to prepare its first strategic plan in 2005, for the period between March 2005 and December 2006, based on the problems that it identified within the judicial sector.

Based on the results achieved through the implementation of the first strategic document and taking into consideration the demands placed before the BiH institutions by the European integration process, a second HJPC BiH Strategic Plan was prepared for the period 2007 – 2012.

Following the adoption of the BiH Justice Sector Reform Strategy (hereinafter: JSRS) for the period 2008 – 2012 and the accompanying Action Plan for the period 2009 – 2013, and with the identified goal of creating a common reform-based framework for the institutions of the BiH Justice Sector as well as the harmonised priorities for the development of the judicial sector as a whole, a need presented itself to revise the HJPC BiH Strategic Plan and harmonise it with the BiH Justice Sector Reform Strategy. Accordingly, in December 2009, the HJPC BiH adopted a revised Strategic Plan for the period 2009 – 2013.

Based on the recommendations of the European Commission , in the second half of 2013 the institutions of the BiH Justice Sector implemented numerous activities with the aim of drafting a new JSRS for the period 2014 – 2018. Even though its adoption was expected at the 11th Ministerial Conference on Overseeing the Implementation of the JSRS, held on January 29, 2014, it did not happen and a 60 day deadline was set for further consultation on disputed issues from the draft JSRS for 2014 – 2018.

To prevent any negative effects to the strategic tasks of the HJPC BiH due to the delays in the adoption of the JSRS, which stands as a framework strategic document for all BiH institutions in the Justice Sector, in January 2014, the HJPC BiH began work on drafting a new Strategic Plan for the period 2014 – 2018.