Juvenile criminal law is a separate part of criminal law. It consists of material, procedural and executive part, and this paper pays special attention to the material part. Already in the last century, the need for special treatment of juveniles was seen due to their different psychophysical development and the general possibility of understanding the committed criminal act. Numerous legal acts from that period confirm that special emphasis was placed on a different procedure and sanctions imposed on minors. Today, that special treatment of minors has been maintained and is only being expanded even more. The special attention paid to juveniles is also visible in numerous researches that seek to find out the causes of juvenile delinquency. Furthermore, from statistical data related to juveniles, we can note that although the number of reported juvenile offenders is increasing, on the other hand, the number of convicted juveniles is decreasing. Such results are mostly a reflection of the principle of expediency, which is why many minors have not been prosecuted at all. The main source of law for juvenile offenders is the Juvenile Courts Act, which regulates both material and procedural provisions. In the substantive legal part, the Juvenile Courts Act mainly regulates sanctions for juveniles (educational measures and juvenile prison sentences), which represent a significant difference compared to sanctions, i.e. sentences for adult offenders. Special attention should be paid to the age limit of minors, which today is determined formally, that is, according to the age of the perpetrator, regardless of the subjective elements of the commission of the crime in each specific case.