The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the main criteria and standards developed in the field of international human rights law that delimitate the scope of the right to a special treatment in the execution of the penalty of deprivation of liberty for juveniles in contrast with adults. The work identifies the concrete consequences of the need for a specialized execution of sentences for juveniles in the regulation of institutions and guarantees established in favour of minors within the execution of the sanction of juvenile imprisonment, and then it determines how they have been recognized and developed by the corpus juris of international human rights law (international legislation, doctrine and case law). First, the paper analyzes how the reinforced protection of juvenile prisoners is recognized in the international human rights system, concluding that it is widely recognized. Then, it argues that this reinforced protection requires differences with respect to the treatment of adults, which can be systematized in five areas that are subject to a detailed review: orientation of the execution of the sentence of juvenile imprisonment, prison conditions, prison regime, good order and control mechanisms.