Minors in criminal law can be viewed from two aspects: minors as perpetrators of criminal acts and minors as victims of criminal acts. This thesis aims to investigate the minors from the former group minors as perpetrators of criminal acts which are sanctioned according to special procedures. By adopting the Juvenile Courts Act in 1997, criminal trials towards minors in Croatia were no longer part of regular criminal law that is conducted toward adult offenders. National juvenile legislature is experiencing growing obligations of implementing various international legal documents, particularly as a result of Croatia's membership in the European Union, whose directives it is required to implement in the legal code. This thesis explores one aspect of a fair trial, the right to legal representation (counsel, aid) in criminal procedures involving minor offenders. Legal status of minors in criminal procedures has also been affected by the practices of ECHR, international legal documents and EU legal acts. The aim of this thesis is to examine the regulations of the Croatian Criminal Procedure Code which refer to the right to legal aid, as well as Juvenile Courts Act (ZSM) regulations concerning the status and rights of minors in criminal procedures. Under the ZSM, minors have a right to legal representation before the procedure formally began, from the moment the first legal action against the minor is taken.