The article is devoted to the history of the development of juvenile criminal responsibility. When conducting a scientific analysis, the author is based on the historical and legal method and reveals the transformation of legislative approaches to juvenile criminal liability from a punitive model to a humanistic paradigm. The author consistently reveals the key stages of the formation of legal norms regulating the specifics of the criminal process in relation to minors, with a detailed examination of the regulations of various historical periods. The study demonstrates that modern criminal justice is aimed at social rehabilitation and prevention of criminalization of minors, which is reflected in the priority of educational measures.