SUMMARY
Juvenile justice develops its intervention taking into account the particularities of the psycho-evolutionary and social moment of young people. Intervention with juvenile offenders has the dual objective of rehabilitating the young and preventing recidivism or the start of a criminal career. This paper follows the comparative method to analyse the legal and educational measures followed in two European countries such as Germany and Spain, with the aim of knowing the appropriateness of these measures. A double analysis is carried out for this purpose. On the one hand, the law for minors, its reforms, results, principles and punitive level for the young offender in each country. On the other hand, the educational measures applied from the possibilities allowed by the legal framework. The results give an insight into two legal systems for young people where important differences can be seen, the Spanish one being more punitive than the German one. There is also resistance from legal operators, both in Germany and Spain, to make the law more harmful. It concludes by advocating the use of educational and rehabilitative measures that have proven to be effective in reducing recidivism and increasing reintegration.