Chapter 2 Child-friendly nationality and statelessness determination procedures: legal aid, representation, access to information and justice for children 1. Stateless children or children at risk of statelessness i. A specific statelessness determination procedure, adapted to children, with procedural and evidentiary guarantees for children 18. At least 18 member states have a statelessness determination procedure.18 In some of these states, special attention is given to the determination of statelessness of children. 19. Almost all states have provisions for the appointment of a special legal representative or guardian when a child does not have legally recognised parents or has entered the country as an unaccompanied minor. The appointment of such a representative must be ex officio. The procedure is guided by the principle of protecting the best interests of the child.19 Identified promising practices France has a statelessness determination procedure. In practice, the Stateless Office of the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless persons (OFPRA) implements this procedure under the aegis of the principle of the best interests of the child. A minor applying to the Office is invited to do so through his or her legal representative and, while the burden of proof is normally on the applicant to prove statelessness, it is shared in this case with the OFPRA. In addition, if co-operation with foreign authorities proves impossible or in case of doubt, the minor benefits and can be recognised as stateless. 18. Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, France, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, Ukraine and United Kingdom. 19. See the standards described in Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)11 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on effective guardianship for unaccompanied and separated children in the context of migration. ► Page 12