This paper analyses special aspects of juvenile criminal proceedings which represent a specific type of criminal procedure as opposed to regular criminal procedure. Because of their young age, juveniles belong to a separate category of criminal perpetrators. In contrast to adult perpetrators, juvenile criminal proceedings are not characterized by punishment but support, care and assistance to influence their personality so they abstain from reoffending. In order to achieve growth through criminal procedure, the law states numerous special aspects of this procedure such as urgency and privacy of the proceedings, use of principle of opportunity, influence of personal and familial circumstances on deciding what the sanction will be, informality and simplification of the procedure. In the Republic of Croatia juvenile criminal proceedings are regulated by the Juvenile Courts Act as the main source of law. With the adoption of this Act in 1997 the position of juveniles in criminal proceedings was fully regulated for the first time in one single document. The author analyses current legislation in detail and elaborates on the course of procedure through particular stages. The purpose of this paper is to point out the importance of a different approach in juvenile adjudication.