20 United Nations Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems Guideline 10. Special measures for children 53. States should ensure special measures for children to promote children’s effective access to justice and to prevent stigmatization and other adverse effects as a result of their being involved in the criminal justice system, including: (a) Ensuring the right of the child to have counsel assigned to repre‑ sent the child in his or her own name in proceedings where there is or could be a conflict of interest between the child and his or her parents or other parties involved; (b) Enabling children who are detained, arrested, suspected or accused of, or charged with a criminal offence to contact their parents or guardians at once and prohibiting any interviewing of a child in the absence of his or her lawyer or other legal aid provider, and parent or guardian when available, in the best interests of the child; (c) Ensuring the right of the child to have the matter determined in the presence of the child’s parents or legal guardian, unless it is not considered to be in the best interests of the child; (d) Ensuring that children may consult freely and in full confidential‑ ity with parents and/or guardians and legal representatives; (e) Providing information on legal rights in a manner appropriate for the child’s age and maturity, in a language that the child can understand and in a manner that is gender‑ and culture‑sensitive. Provision of information to parents, guardians or caregivers should be in addition, and not an alterna‑ tive, to communicating information to the child; (f) Promoting, where appropriate, diversion from the formal criminal justice system and ensuring that children have the right to legal aid at every stage of the process where diversion is applied; (g) Encouraging, where appropriate, the use of alternative measures and sanctions to deprivation of liberty and ensuring that children have the right to legal aid so that deprivation of liberty is a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time; (h) Establishing measures to ensure that judicial and administrative proceedings are conducted in an atmosphere and manner that allow children to be heard either directly or through a representative or an appropriate body in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law. Taking into account the child’s age and maturity may also require modified judicial and administrative procedures and practices.