Review

The article analyzes the stages of development of juvenile justice in different countries. The conducted research makes it possible to conclude that juvenile justice has gone through a long path of transformation and is still developing. Conventionally, the development of juvenile justice can be divided into the following periods: the period of the birth of juvenile justice (until the middle of the 19th century) – people began to pay attention to the difference between justice for children and justice for adults, specialized institutions were created to serve sentences for minors, references to minors appeared in the codes of some countries, the foundation was laid on which later juvenile courts will be built; the period of formation of juvenile justice (the end of the 19th – the beginning of the 20th century) – specialized courts were created to consider cases involving minors, most states understood the importance of the development of juvenile The doctrine of «parens patriae», particularly in the United States, has legitimized that justice unofficially intervenes in the interests of the child, not recognizing the rights normally granted to the accused. The creation of juvenile courts in many countries at the beginning of the 20th century emphasized the trend that had developed in the previous century; the period of controversial development of juvenile justice (mid-20th century) – there were ambiguous trends. Although some countries emphasized their commitment to the developed model of juvenile justice, others questioned some of its elements. A new emphasis was placed on the protection of youth rights both through procedural guarantees and substantive law. Youth interest, education and rehabilitation remained central to the key issues of juvenile justice; the period of partial decline of juvenile justice (the end of the 20th century) is the period of the strongest attacks on juvenile justice. There have been changes in some countries that have made juvenile justice more similar to criminal justice for adults than before. It also led to young people being treated as adults. Fortunately, not all countries succumbed to the application of punitive justice. Thanks to the support of the main international instruments, many countries have so far resisted its application and actively apply the best practices of juvenile justice, including restorative; the modern period (XXI century) is characterized by the use of child-friendly