This article aims to understand the ways through which the juvenile court judges engage in the judicial field in Turkey. It reveals two categories of judges: those who make the “code” a priority, and those who attach the greatest importance to the “file.” The analysis also confirms that judges whose forms of practice transform them into technicians of legal rules bring about a rather repressive kind of justice, while those who seek to integrate a social dimension tend to come closer to a more protecting form of justice.