A/HRC/34/44 principles of the Optional Protocol. In recent years, handover agreements have been signed by the Governments of Chad, Mali, Somalia and Uganda, and together with UNICEF and other United Nations entities the Special Representative has continued advocacy with Member States and provided technical support for the development of new procedures during the reporting period. 17. When a child who has been recruited and used is alleged to have committed clearly defined crimes under international or domestic law, the specific circumstances and best interests of the child must be taken into account. However, it is more commonplace that children are sent before courts and are accorded few safeguards or none. In this regard, the use of military or special courts is an acute concern for the Special Representative, as they frequently fail to apply fair trial standards or basic juvenile justice safeguards. In particular, instances of death sentences being handed down by these mechanisms have been documented in situations of armed conflict, notwithstanding the prohibition of capital punishment for offences committed by persons below 18 years of age, under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Special Representative urges Member States to ensure that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration in the administration of juvenile justice and that military or special courts are avoided in all circumstances. Moreover, additional special considerations for children should also be in place in regular justice systems. For example, in conflict and post-conflict settings, justice systems are often stretched to their limits: the processing of cases involving children should always take priority. 18. An ongoing concern in some contexts is the very definition of a child. While it is almost universally accepted at the international level that a child means every human being below the age of 18, in line with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, practice between and even within States is sometimes contradictory. Member States should take measures to close legal lacunae and ensure that the definition of a child is set at 18 years, in line with the international normative framework. Member States should also make additional efforts to ensure that the international obligations regarding the definition of a child are widely known and are adhered to by all national, regional and local authorities. A connected concern is the process for determining the age of a person who is allegedly associated with a party to a conflict. In many conflict settings, birth registration systems are lacking, and age assessment mechanisms are frequently inadequate and children are often presumed to be adults. In this regard, it is important for Member States to ensure adherence to the principle that if there is any doubt, the individual should be considered a child and protected as such. 19. Long-standing and well-established principles of detention are also being sidelined and overlooked in the context of armed conflict. For example, in many situations children are being held together with adults, and boys are also being held together with girls. Detaining children in this way exposes them to a range of risks to their physical integrity and can have harmful consequences for their psychological development. The nomenclature regarding detention is also a serious concern, as in some instances, the use of terminology such as a “reintegration”, “rehabilitation” or “deradicalization” centre has been used to circumvent the applicability of safeguards and to deny the rights of those deprived of their liberty. In this regard, the Special Representative reminds concerned Member States of the importance of adhering to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules) in all instances of the deprivation of liberty of children. In all situations, priority must also be given to maintaining family ties for children in detention, and children should also have access to educational programmes, medical care and psychological support. These provisions will aid a child’s reintegration into society once he or she is released. 7