The legal mechanisms for the protection of children in war and other forms of armed conflict are one of the most important and most urgent areas of legal regulation within the framework of contemporary international humanitarian law. The phenomenon of child soldiers, however closely affiliated with international children's rights, remains a highly persistent problem and a much more complex issue than the consensus of the international community in terms of its political condemnation might imply. The issue of criminal liability of child soldiers, unilateral ban on their recruitment, approach to voluntary recruitment, even the attempts to reach a consensus on viable definition, such as age limit or capacity in which they participate in hostilities, demonstrate the polarizing character of this delicate problem as well as the inability of states and international organizations to produce a solution in a joint, expedient and effective manner. This paper analyzes each of the above mentioned issues separately, presents the most important international legal documents and international organizations dealing with the phenomenon of child soldiers in greater detail, and, using the two relevant historical examples of child involvement in armed conflicts, points to the challenges of implementing legal solutions in practice. In conclusion, all the separate aspects of this complex issue are considered in their totality. The inadequacy of international legal mechanisms to fully eradicate this phenomenon is identified, since the conditions for the creation of new child soldiers will persist for as long as the armed conflict itself remains a legitimate mean of solving political, economic and cultural differences between subjects of international law.